Giulio Aleni, Kouduo richao, and Christian–Confucian Dialogism in Late Ming Fujian (Monumenta Serica Monograph Series) [1 ed.] 1138589128, 9781138589124

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
Copyright
Contents
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
The Jesuit-Confucian Encounter
Kouduo richao: Significance and Uniqueness
Review of Previous Studies
A. Major Methodologies
B. Studies on Kouduo richao
Dialogic Hybridization: An Alternative Approach
Chapter One: From Literary Dialogue to Cultural Dialogism
1.1. A Generic Exploration of Dialogue
1.1.1. Dialogue as a Hybrid Literary Genre?
1.1.2. Dialogue as a Medium of Thought
1.1.3. From Dialogue to the Dialogic
1.2. Traditions of Dialogue in China and Europe
1.2.1. Dialogue in the Confucian Tradition
1.2.2. Renaissance Dialogues: A European Context
1.3. Christian Dialogic Texts in Late Ming China
1.3.1. Early Dialogic Works by Ruggieri and Cobo
1.3.2. Ricci's Tianzhu shiyi and Jiren shipian
1.3.3. Da Rocha's Tianzhu Shengjiao qimeng
1.3.4. Dialogic Texts Written by Chinese Converts
1.3.5. From Inferior to Superior: Changing Jesuits' Identities as the Other
1.4. Why Dialogue? Reality, Symbolism, and Missionary Strategy
Chapter Two: Aleni, Fujian Mission, and Kouduo richao
2.1. Aleni's Life and Chinese Works
2.1.1. Childhood to Young Adulthood in Italy (1582-1610)
2.1.2. Missionary Activities I (1610-1625)
2.1.3. Missionary Activities II (Fujian Mission, 1625-1649)
A. Beginning Years in Fujian (1625-1629)
B. The Golden Years (1630-1640)
C. Final Years (1641-1649)
2.1.4. Aleni's Works and Jesuit Print Culture in Fujian
2.1.5. Aleni's Strategy and Dialogism
2.2. Fujian Converts and Catholic Communities
2.2.1. Li Brothers in Haikou (Fuzhou)
2.2.2. Zhang Geng in Quanzhou
2.3. Compilation of Kouduo richao
Chapter Three: Practical Investigations of Heaven and Earth
3.1. Heaven: From Visible to Invisible
3.1.1. Astronomical Observations
3.1.2. The Calendar Puzzle
3.1.3. From Heaven to the Lord of Heaven
3.2. Earth: "Science" vs. "Superstition"
3.2.1. The Shape of the Earth
3.2.2. Four Elements vs. Five Agents
3.2.3. Qi: Material or Spiritual?
3.2.4. Meteorological Phenomena
3.2.5. Astrology
3.2.6. Geomancy
3.3. In the Name of Gewu qiongli
Chapter Four: Spiritual and Moral Cultivation of Man
4.1. Between Heaven and Hell
4.1.1. On the Lord of Heaven
4.1.2. Christ's Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection
4.1.3. Universal Hierarchy: From Heaven to Hell
4.1.4. The Holy Mother: Mediatrix and Protector
4.2. Questions on Man
4.2.1. Body and Soul
4.2.2. Human Nature
4.3. Accomplishing Three Merits
4.3.1. Filial Piety to the "Great Father-Mother" and Parents
4.3.2. Love and Benevolence to People
4.3.3. Austerity to One's Self
4.4. Building a Spiritual Temple inside the Mind
4.4.1. Overcoming Temptations and Desires
4.4.2. Fundamentals of Contemplative Life
4.4.3. The "Five Classics": Christian and Confucian
4.5. Abolish Heresies
4.5.1. Problems with Buddhism and Daoism
4.5.2. Problems with Popular Religions
4.6. Different in Place, Same in Mind and Principle
Chapter Five: Salvation before the Eyes: Objects, Images, and Liturgies
5.1. Marvelous Objects from the Far West
5.1.1. Objects of Miracles
5.1.2. Objects for Moral Perfection
5.2. Edifying Paintings and Illustrations
5.2.1. Emblematic Pictures
5.2.2. Illustrated Life of Christ
5.3. Essentials of Liturgical Life
5.3.1. Baptism
5.3.2. Confession
5.3.3. Holy Mass (Eucharist)
5.4. Chinese Rites and Customs in Question
5.4.1. Marriage
5.4.2. Funerals
5.5. Summary – A Visible and Practicable Salvation
Conclusion
Does Form Really Matter?
From Dialogue to the Dialogic
Giulio Aleni: "Pastoral Choice" or Expanding Dialogism?
Kouduo richao: Christian–Confucian Dialogic Learning
Appendices
Appendix I: Chinese Christian Texts in Dialogue Forms (1580-1650)
Appendix II: Catalogue of Qinyi Church in Fuzhou
Appendix III: Editors and Contributors of Kouduo richao
Bibliography
Index and Glossary
Chinese Summary

Citation preview

Monumenta Serica Institute

ISSN 0179-261X ISBN 9781138589124 ISBN 978-1-138-58912-4

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9 781138 589124

Song Gang • Aleni and Christian–Confucian Dialogism • MSMS LXIX

Monumenta Serica Monograph Series

Song Gang

Giulio Aleni, Kouduo richao, and Christian–Confucian Dialogism in Late Ming Fujian

MonuMenta Serica Monograph SerieS LXIX

MONUMENTA SERICA MONOGRAPH SERIES LXIX Editor: ZBIGNIEW WESOŁOWSKI, S.V.D. Sankt Augustin

SONG GANG

Giulio Aleni, Kouduo richao, and Christian–Confucian Dialogism in Late Ming Fujian

MONUMENTA SERICA MONOGRAPH SERIES LXIX________________________________

_________________________________

Song Gang

Giulio Aleni, Kouduo richao, and Christian–Confucian Dialogism in Late Ming Fujian

Institut Monumenta Serica • Sankt Augustin

Sumptibus Societatis Verbi Divini (S.V.D.) Cover:

left: Portrait of Giulio Aleni in Taixi Siji Ai xiansheng xingshu 泰西思及艾先生行述, Li Sixuan 李嗣玄, after 1649, BNF Chinois 1017; right: page 255 of Kouduo richao, ARSI ed., vol. 7 Copy editors: BARBARA HOSTER, DIRK KUHLMANN, ZBIGNIEW WESOŁOWSKI Cover and layout: JOZEF BIŠTUŤ Arnold-Janssen-Str. 20 53757 Sankt Augustin, Germany Fax: +49-2241-237486 E-mail: [email protected] www.monumenta-serica.de First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Monumenta Serica Institute

The right of Song Gang to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested. ISBN: 978-1-138-58912-4 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-49187-0 (ebk) ISSN 0179-261X Typeset by Monumenta Serica Institute

Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................ Abbreviations ..................................................................................

IX XIII

Introduction ..................................................................................... 1 The Jesuit–Confucian Encounter .............................................................. 3 Kouduo richao: Significance and Uniqueness .............................................. 7 Review of Previous Studies ................................................................... 12 A. Major Methodologies .................................................................. 12 B. Studies on Kouduo richao ............................................................. 18 Dialogic Hybridization: An Alternative Approach ....................................... 24 Chapter One: From Literary Dialogue to Cultural Dialogism . .................... 1.1. A Generic Exploration of Dialogue ................................................... 1.1.1. Dialogue as a Hybrid Literary Genre? ....................................... 1.1.2. Dialogue as a Medium of Thought ............................................ 1.1.3. From Dialogue to the Dialogic ................................................ 1.2. Traditions of Dialogue in China and Europe ........................................ 1.2.1. Dialogue in the Confucian Tradition ......................................... 1.2.2. Renaissance Dialogues: A European Context ............................... 1.3. Christian Dialogic Texts in Late Ming China ....................................... 1.3.1. Early Dialogic Works by Ruggieri and Cobo ............................... 1.3.2. Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi and Jiren shipian ...................................... 1.3.3. Da Rocha’s Tianzhu Shengjiao qimeng ....................................... 1.3.4. Dialogic Texts Written by Chinese Converts ............................... 1.3.5. From Inferior to Superior: Changing Jesuits’ Identities as the Other .... 1.4. Why Dialogue? Reality, Symbolism, and Missionary Strategy ..................

31 31 32 36 39 42 42 45 47 47 54 62 64 73 74

Chapter Two: Aleni, Fujian Mission, and Kouduo richao ........................... 77 2.1. Aleni’s Life and Chinese Works ....................................................... 78 2.1.1. Childhood to Young Adulthood in Italy (1582–1610) ..................... 78 2.1.2. Missionary Activities I (1610–1625) ......................................... 84 2.1.3. Missionary Activities II (Fujian Mission, 1625–1649) .................... 88 A. Beginning Years in Fujian (1625–1629) ................................. 88 B. The Golden Years (1630–1640) .......................................... 94 C. Final Years (1641–1649) ................................................. 103 2.1.4. Aleni’s Works and Jesuit Print Culture in Fujian ........................ 106 2.1.5. Aleni’s Strategy and Dialogism .............................................. 113 2.2. Fujian Converts and Catholic Communities ....................................... 116 2.2.1. Li Brothers in Haikou (Fuzhou) ............................................. 117 2.2.2. Zhang Geng in Quanzhou .................................................... 123 2.3. Compilation of Kouduo richao ....................................................... 128

VI

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Three: Practical Investigations of Heaven and Earth .................... 3.1. Heaven: From Visible to Invisible ................................................... 3.1.1. Astronomical Observations ................................................... 3.1.2. The Calendar Puzzle ........................................................... 3.1.3. From Heaven to the Lord of Heaven ........................................ 3.2. Earth: “Science” vs. “Superstition” ................................................. 3.2.1. The Shape of the Earth ........................................................ 3.2.2. Four Elements vs. Five Agents .............................................. 3.2.3. Qi: Material or Spiritual? ..................................................... 3.2.4. Meteorological Phenomena ................................................... 3.2.5. Astrology ......................................................................... 3.2.6. Geomancy ........................................................................ 3.3. In the Name of Gewu qiongli .........................................................

133 133 134 144 148 151 151 162 166 170 172 176 179

Chapter Four: Spiritual and Moral Cultivation of Man ............................ 4.1. Between Heaven and Hell ............................................................. 4.1.1. On the Lord of Heaven ........................................................ 4.1.2. Christ’s Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection ...................... 4.1.3. Universal Hierarchy: From Heaven to Hell ............................... 4.1.4. The Holy Mother: Mediatrix and Protector ................................ 4.2. Questions on Man ....................................................................... 4.2.1. Body and Soul ................................................................... 4.2.2. Human Nature ................................................................... 4.3. Accomplishing Three Merits .......................................................... 4.3.1. Filial Piety to the “Great Father–Mother” and Parents .................. 4.3.2. Love and Benevolence to People ............................................. 4.3.3. Austerity to One’s Self ........................................................ 4.4. Building a Spiritual Temple inside the Mind ....................................... 4.4.1. Overcoming Temptations and Desires ...................................... 4.4.2. Fundamentals of Contemplative Life ........................................ 4.4.3. The “Five Classics”: Christian and Confucian ............................ 4.5. Abolish Heresies ........................................................................ 4.5.1. Problems with Buddhism and Daoism ...................................... 4.5.2. Problems with Popular Religions ............................................ 4.6. Different in Place, Same in Mind and Principle ...................................

181 182 182 189 197 204 210 210 217 223 223 229 234 237 240 244 248 249 250 253 254

Chapter Five: Salvation before the Eyes: Objects, Images, and Liturgies ..... 5.1. Marvelous Objects from the Far West ............................................... 5.1.1. Objects of Miracles ............................................................. 5.1.2. Objects for Moral Perfection ................................................. 5.2. Edifying Paintings and Illustrations .................................................. 5.2.1. Emblematic Pictures ........................................................... 5.2.2. Illustrated Life of Christ ....................................................... 5.3. Essentials of Liturgical Life ........................................................... 5.3.1. Baptism ........................................................................... 5.3.2. Confession ....................................................................... 5.3.3. Holy Mass (Eucharist) .........................................................

257 257 260 265 267 269 274 291 292 298 305

TABLE OF CONTENTS

VII

5.4. Chinese Rites and Customs in Question ............................................ 5.4.1. Marriage .......................................................................... 5.4.2. Funerals .......................................................................... 5.5. Summary – A Visible and Practicable Salvation ..................................

314 315 321 329

Conclusion .................................................................................... Does Form Really Matter? .................................................................. From Dialogue to the Dialogic ............................................................. Giulio Aleni: “Pastoral Choice” or Expanding Dialogism? ........................... Kouduo richao: Christian–Confucian Dialogic Learning ..............................

333 333 335 336 339

Appendices .................................................................................... Appendix I: Chinese Christian Texts in Dialogue Forms (1580–1650) ............. Appendix II: Catalogue of Qinyi Church in Fuzhou ................................... Appendix III: Editors and Contributors of Kouduo richao ............................

343 343 350 359

Bibliography .................................................................................. 363 Index and Glossary .......................................................................... 391 Chinese Summary ............................................................................ 419 Table and Figures Table: Distribution of Themes Discussed in Kouduo richao .......................... 131 Cover: left: Portrait of Giulio Aleni in Taixi Siji Ai xiansheng xingshu 泰西思及艾 先生行述, Li Sixuan 李嗣玄, after 1649, BNF Chinois 1017; right: page 255 of Kouduo richao, ARSI ed., vol. 7 Figure 1: Jerónimo Nadal (1507–1580), Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), title page (reprinted in 1595 edition as frontispiece), courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B24301) ................. 278 Figure 2: Giulio Aleni (1582–1649), after Jerónimo Nadal, Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, title page, 1637, courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University (52-1049) ..................................................................... 279 Figure 3: Jerónimo Nadal (1507–1580), Adnotationes et meditationes in Evangelia (published together with Evangelicae Historiae Imagines, Antwerp, 1595), title page, courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B11591) ............................................................... 280 Figure 4: “Nativitas Christi,” from Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), Jerónimo Nadal, courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B24301) ............................................................... 282 Figure 5: “Tianzhu Yesu jiangdan” 天主耶穌降誕 (Birth of Jesus, the Lord of Heaven), from: Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, Giulio Aleni, 1637, courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University (52-1049) .................... 283

VIII

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Figure 6: “Annunciatio,” from Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), Jerónimo Nadal, courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B24301) ................................................................ 284 Figure 7: “Annunciation,” from Song nianzhu guicheng (Rules for Reciting the Rosary, 1619), João da Rocha (1565–1623), courtesy of Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Rome, Jap-Sin I 43 ...................................... 286 Figure 8: “Shengmu ling Shangzhu jiangyu zhibao” 聖母領上主降孕之報 (Annunciation of the Lord to the Holy Mother), from: Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, 1637, Giulio Aleni, courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University (52-1049) .......................................................... 288 Figure 9: “Assumitur Maria in coelum, coronatur à sanctiss.trinitate,” from: Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), Jerónimo Nadal, courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B24301) .................. 289 Figure 10: “Shengmu duanmian ju zhu shensheng zhi shang” 聖母端冕居諸神 聖之上 (Coronation of the Holy Mother above All Angels and Saints), from: Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, 1637, Giulio Aleni, courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University (52-1049) ............................................... 290

Acknowledgements About twelve years ago, I became interested in the great encounter of China and the West in early modern history, and I decided to focus on the intellectual exchanges between the Jesuits and late Ming Confucians as the main theme of my Ph.D. dissertation. A popular Chinese saying states, “It takes ten years to sharpen a sword,” and so was my personal experience in carrying on this tenyear-long project. Despite many challenges and delays, I was able to make major revisions in the draft manuscript and put some of my recent research findings in the chapters. After accumulating a lot more evidence, knowledge, and insights on this subject, I am more convinced than ever that the key terms discussed in this book, such as dialogism and dialogic hybridization, are on the right track towards a broader vision for cross-cultural studies in the future. The book in its present form already offers a comprehensive, up-to-date study on Kouduo richao and dozens of Catholic dialogic works from early 17th-century China. While these examples will generate a better understanding of the two-way flow of words, beliefs, and experiences through Sino-Western exchanges during the late Ming, I believe the new paradigm proposed in this book can also contribute to methodological advances in future research on the entanglement of religiosity and secularity, individuality and collectivity, and orthodoxy and diversity in the midst of contacts between cultures. I cannot help but remember my earlier studies at the University of Southern California, where I received abundant support from teachers and friends to set out on this exciting but mostly unaccompanied exploration. First and foremost, I would thank Dominic Cheung, my academic advisor, for having spared a tremendous amount of time to help me go through the writing of my dissertation. Without his meticulous guidance, it would have been impossible for me to finish the project on time and pass the oral defense with distinction. I am also indebted to John E. Wills Jr., Alvin Rudisill, and Bettine Birge, who provided insightful comments and suggestions for my research. Towards the later stage of my doctoral research, I had the opportunity to participate in the 2005 Dissertation Workshop sponsored by the Association for Asian Studies. A dozen young scholars presented cutting-edge studies, from which I learned to enhance the interdisciplinary outlook of my own project. I also benefited from the critical comments from David Szanton, Laura Hostetler, and other senior scholars in this productive exchange. In 2006 and 2008, the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History, University of San Francisco, offered financial support in my visits to its archival collection. Some key sources in this book come from these research trips. My special thanks go to Wu Xiaoxin, Antoni Üçerler, and Mark S. Mir for their friendship and continued support of my early academic career. In fact, my first study of Aleni’s works and Jesuit print culture in Fujian drew inspiration from their initiative in organizing the 2010 international symposium on early missionary printing in Asia and the Americas.

X

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In addition, the revision of this book was facilitated by the Hsu Long-sing Fund, which I received soon after I began to work at the University of Hong Kong in 2008. The Fund enabled me to visit several major Chinese Christian archives in Europe and Taiwan, where I could access and reproduce a number of important sources. I would like to express my gratitude to the Faculty of Arts for such timely support. While working on this book in the past few years, I have benefited enormously from the exchanges with a number of scholars. Nicolas Standaert and Adrian Dudink are well-known experts in European Sinology. They not only provided abundant information on different kinds of primary sources and secondary studies (e.g., the online CCT Database), but they also offered detailed answers promptly to my questions. Eugenio Menegon inspired me with his expertise on Fujian Catholic communities in late imperial China. When I worked for the China on Paper Exhibition (2007) at the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Marcia Reed and Paula Demattè gave me useful advice on scientific and artistic exchanges between late imperial China and early modern Europe. Roman Malek and Zbigniew Wesołowski, the former and current Editors-in-chief of the Monumenta Serica Institute, Sankt Augustin, likewise offered valuable comments on my research, and they showed great patience and professionalism in guiding me to get my first book published with their Institute. I am also thankful to my American colleague Nicholas M. Williams for his timely support in proofreading of the manuscript and clarification of the key concepts in my arguments. A broad range of primary sources, both textual and visual, are used in this book. I therefore express my deep gratitude to the staff of Chinese or Asian collections in many libraries and institutes, including Kenneth Klein of East Asian Library, University of Southern California; Valentina Longo of Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Rome; Robert Danieluk of Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Rome; Gianfranco Cretti of Centro Studi Giulio Aleni, Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana, Brescia; Tatiana Pang of Institute of Oriental Manuscript, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg; Nathalie Monnet of Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris; and Chien Fan-wen of Fu Ssu-nien Library at the Academia Sinica, Taipei. With their timely and professional assistance I was able to study numerous rare manuscripts and use them to strengthen the arguments in my revision. The distinguished sinologist Erik Zürcher (1928–2008) directed scholarly attention to the richness and diversity of Chinese Christian texts produced in the 17th and 18th centuries. In his eyes, the unique value of research on this subject “lies in the fact that it probably is the best documented case of intercultural contact in pre-modern Chinese history (and probably in pre-modern world history)” (id. 1995a, p. 266). Zürcher himself gave a perfect example in his monumental study of Kouduo richao, accompanied with a full annotated translation in English. His broad knowledge and solid findings helped me solve a number of puzzling questions, not to mention his carefully translated passages in Kouduo richao that are directly quoted in this book. I consider my book a companion to his earlier study, but meanwhile I would sincerely dedicate the book to him, a leading

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

XI

scholar whose passion and persistence inspire me to make further explorations in this field. Lastly, I would thank my family for continual support of my research and work in China, America, and Hong Kong. Our wandering life in the past decade often reminded me of Giulio Aleni, the protagonist of this book, who had great courage to embark on a long-distance journey, learn new subjects and languages, and engage in a search for mutual understanding between his culture and another. For whatever challenges I faced, my wife Jin Jian has always been by my side, and our young son Harel never failed to bring to us a lot of joy and relief. They make my simple life more meaningful.

Abbreviations AJXQ

Aijin xingquan 哀 矜 行 詮 (Explanatory Notes on the Fourteen Works of Mercy, 1633). Giacomo Rho, in CCT ARSI, vol. 5.

ARSI

Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (Rome)

BAV

Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Città del Vaticano, Rome)

BNC

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele II (Rome)

BnF

Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris)

CCT ARSI

Yesuhui Luoma dang’anguan Ming–Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian 耶 穌會羅馬檔案館明清天主教文獻 (Chinese Christian Texts from the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus), ed. Nicolas Standaert and Adrian Dudink. Taipei: Ricci Institute, 2002.

CCT BAV (1) Fandigang tushuguan cang Ming–Qing Zhong–Xi wenhua jiaoliu shi wenxian congkan (diyi ji) 梵蒂冈图书馆藏明清中西文化交流 史文献丛刊 (第一辑) (Archive Series on the History of ChineseWestern Cultural Exchanges from the Vatican Library), ed. Zhang Xiping 張 西 平 , Federico Masini, Ren Dayuan 任 大 援 , and Ambrogio M. Piazzoni. Zhengzhou: Daxiang chubanshe, 2014. CCT BnF

Faguo Guojia tushuguan Ming–Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian 法國國 家圖書館明清天主教文獻 (Chinese Christian Texts from the National Library of France), ed. Nicolas Standaert, Adrian Dudink, and Nathalie Monnet. Taipei: Ricci Institute, 2009.

CCT-Database Ad Dudink – Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database) (http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/sinologie/English/cct). CCT ZKW

Xujiahui cangshulou Ming–Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian 徐家匯藏書 樓明清天主教文獻 (Chinese Christian Texts from the Zikawei Library), ed. Nicolas Standaert, Adrian Dudink, Huang Yi-long, and Chu Ping-yi. Taipei: Fanji chubanshe, 1996.

CCT ZKW XB Xujiahui cangshulou Ming–Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian xubian 徐家 匯藏書樓明清天主教文獻續編 (Sequel to Chinese Christian Texts from the Zikawei Library), ed. Nicolas Standaert, Adrian Dudink, and Wang Renfang. Taipei: Fanji chubanshe, 2013. DMB

Dictionary of Ming Biography (1368–1644), ed. L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang. New York: Columbia University Press, 1976.

DYP

Daiyi pian 代 疑 篇 (Treatise to Supplant Doubts, 1621). Yang Tingyun, in WX.

DZZG

Dizui zhenggui 滌罪正規 (Proper Rules to Cleanse Sins, ca. 1627). Giulio Aleni, in CCT ARSI, vol. 4.

XIV

ABBREVIATIONS

DZZGL

Dizui zhenggui lüe 滌 罪 正 規 略 (Summary of Proper Rules to Cleanse Sins). Giulio Aleni, in WXSB, vol. 3.

ESSS

Ershisi shi 二十四史 (Histories of Twenty Four Dynasties). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1995.

HCC 1

Nicolas Standaert (ed.), Handbook of Christianity in China I: 635– 1800, Handbook of Oriental Studies Section 4 China, 15/1. Leiden: Brill, 2001.

JRSP

Jiren shipian 畸人十篇 (Ten Chapters of an Extraordinary Man, 1608). Matteo Ricci, in TXCH, vol. 1.

KDRC

Kouduo richao 口 鐸 日 抄 (Diary of Oral Admonitions, 1630– 1640), ARSI, Jap. Sin. I. 81, reprinted in YLDMQ, vol. 7.

KJGZ

Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (Studies on Phenomena in the Sublunar Region, 1633). Alfonso Vagnone, in WXSB, vol. 2.

LXYJ

Lixiu yijian 勵 修 一 鑑 (Mirror to Encourage Self-cultivation, 1635–1645). Li Jiugong 李九功 (d. 1681), in WXSB, vol. 1.

LYLS

Lingyan lishao 靈言蠡勺 (A Ladle of Words on the Soul, 1624). Francesco Sambiasi, in TXCH, vol. 2.

MSJY

Misa jiyi 彌撒祭義 (Explication of Sacrifices in the Mass, 1629). Giulio Aleni, in CCT BnF, vol. 16.

PZYQ

Pangzi yiquan 龐子遺詮 (Notes Left by Master Pang, ca. 1610). Diego de Pantoja, in CCT ARSI, vol. 2.

QKTY

Qiankun tiyi 乾坤體義 (On the Structure of Heaven and Earth, ca. 1608). Matteo Ricci, in SKQS, vol. 787.

SJAXSXJ

Siji Ai xiansheng xingji 思及艾先生行蹟 (Biography of Master Ai Siji, ca. 1650). Li Sixuan, in CCT ZKW, vol. 2.

SKQS

Yingyin Wenyuange Siku quanshu 影 印 文 淵 閣 四 庫 全 書 (A Complete Library of the Four Treasures, reprint of the Wenyuange edition), ed. Ji Yun 紀昀 et al. Taipei: Taiwan shangwu yinshuguan, 1983–1986.

SNZGC

Song nianzhu guicheng 誦 念 珠 規 程 (Rules for Reciting the Rosary, ca. 1619). João da Rocha, in CCT ARSI, vol. 1.

SSJY

Shengshui jiyan 聖水紀言 (Recorded Words [in the Church] of the Holy Water, ca. 1617). Yang Tingyun, in CCT ARSI, vol. 8.

SSJZS

Shisanjing zhushu 十 三 經 注 疏 (Annotations of the Thirteen Confucian Classics). Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1997.

SSLXJ

Sanshan lunxue ji 三山論學紀 (Record of Learned Discussions in Sanshan, ca. 1629). Giulio Aleni, in WXXB, vol. 1.

ABBREVIATIONS

XV

TCSI

T’ien-chu shih-i 天主實義 (The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven). Matteo Ricci; trans. Douglas Lancashire and Peter Hu Kuochen. Taipei: Ricci Institute for Chinese Studies, 1985.

TSMB

Tian–Shi mingbian 天 釋 明 辨 (Clear Discussion on Heaven [Christianity] and Buddhism, 1621). Yang Tingyun, in WXXB, vol. 1.

TWL

Tianwen lüe 天問略 (Sketch of Questions on Heaven, 1615). Manuel Dias, in TXCH, vol. 5.

TXCH

Tianxue chuhan 天學初函 (First Collection of Texts on the Learning from Heaven), reprint, ed. Wu Xiangxiang 吳相湘. Zhongguo shixue congshu 中國史學叢書 23, Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 1965.

TZJSCXJJ

Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie 天主降生出像經解 (Illustrated Explanation on the Incarnation of the Lord of Heaven, 1637). Giulio Aleni. CCT ARSI, vol. 3.

TZJSYXJL

Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe 天主降生言行紀畧 (Brief Record on the Speeches and Conducts of the Incarnated Lord of Heaven, 1635). Giulio Aleni, in CCT ARSI, vol. 4.

TZJY

Tianzhu jiaoyao 天 主 教 要 (Essential Doctrines of the Lord of Heaven). Anon., in CCT ARSI, vol. 1.

TZJYJL

Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe 天 主 教 要 解 略 (Brief Explanations of Tianzhu jiaoyao, 1615). Alfonso Vagnone, in CCT ARSI, vol., 1.

TZSJQM

Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng 天主聖教啟蒙 (Rudiments on the Holy Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven, 1619). João da Rocha, in CCT ARSI, vol. 1.

TZSJSZJW

Tianzhu shengjiao sizi jingwen 天主聖教四字經文 (Four Character Classic of the Holy Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven, 1642). Giulio Aleni, in CCT ARSI, vol. 3.

TZSJXY

Tianzhu shengjiao xiaoyin 天主聖教小引 (Brief Introduction of the Sacred Teaching of the Lord of Heaven, ca. 1630). Fan Zhong 范 中, in CCT BnF, vol. 7.

TZSL

Tianzhu shilu 天主實錄 (True Record of the Lord of Heaven, 1584), Michel Ruggieri, in CCT ARSI, vol. 1.

WSYY

Wushi yan yu 五十言馀 (Fifty Proverbs and the Remnants, 1645). Giulio Aleni, in WXSB, vol. 1.

WWZY

Wanwu zhenyuan 萬物真原 (True Origin of Ten Thousand Things, ca. 1629). Giulio Aleni, in CCT ZKW, vol. 1.

XVI

ABBREVIATIONS

WX

Tianzhujiao dongchuan wenxian 天主教東傳文獻 (Documents on Catholic Missions to the East), ed. Wu Xiangxiang 吳 相 湘 . Zhongguo shixue congshu 中國史學叢書 24, Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 1997.

WXSB

Tianzhujiao dongchuan wenxian sanbian 天 主教 東傳 文 獻 三編 (Third Series of Documents on Catholic Missions to the East). Zhongguo shixue congshu xubian 中國史學叢書續編 21, Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 1998.

WXXB

Tianzhujiao dongchuan wenxian xubian 天 主 教 東 傳 文 獻 續 編 (Second Series of Documents on Catholic Missions to the East), ed. Wu Xiangxiang 吳相湘. Zhongguo shixue congshu 中國史學 叢書 40, Taipei: Xuesheng shuju, 2000.

XHAXSXL

Xihai Ai xiansheng xinglüe 西海艾先生行略 (Biography of Master Ai from the Western Sea, ca. 1650). Li Sixuan, in ARSI, vol. 12.

XXCS

Xingxue cushu 性學觕述 (Sketchy Discussion on Human Nature, 1623/1646). Giulio Aleni, in CCT ARSI, vol. 6.

XXF

Xixue fan 西學凡 (Summary of Western Learning, 1623). Giulio Aleni, in TXCH, vol. 1.

Yang Qiyuan Yang Qiyuan xiansheng chaoxing shiji 楊 淇 園 先 生 超 性 事 蹟 (Supernatural Events in the Life of Mr. Yang Qiyuan, ca. 1629). Ding Zhilin 丁志麟, in CCT ZKW, vol. 1. Zhenchuan shilu Bian zhengjiao zhenchuan shilu [Pien cheng-chiao chen-ch’uan shih-lu] 辨正 教真傳 實錄 (Apologia de la Verdadera Religion, 1593), Juan Cobo; ed. Fidel Villarroel, O.P., Manila: UST Press, 1986.

INTRODUCTION This book explores the remarkable phenomenon of Christian-Confucian dialogism in the 17th-century cultural exchanges between China and the West. In particular, it presents a full-scale study of the mission of the Italian Jesuit Giulio Aleni (Ai Rulüe 艾儒略, 1582–1649) in Fujian, as well as the unique work Kouduo richao 口鐸日鈔 (Diary of Oral Admonitions, 1630–1640) and dozens of Christian dialogic texts printed in the late Ming period. 1 The dynamic mechanisms of dialogue enabled Aleni and Confucian converts to engage scholarly conversations on a wide range of religious, scientific, philosophical, and ethical topics, with which I aim to unfold the complex formation of a hybrid Christian-Confucian identity and religious life in late Ming Fujian. In this introduction and the following chapters, I will highlight the concept of dialogic hybridization as a new approach in comparison with several major methodologies in this field. My findings point to the vital but largely ignored genre of dialogue in late Ming Chinese Christian literature. I will further reveal how dialogism has become an effective means for the Jesuits and Chinese converts to handle the complexities of self–other relations and develop a syncretic approach towards universal Christian salvation. First of all, the late Ming context for this dialogic hybridization deserves special attention. On the one hand, the Ming Empire had greater involvement in world economy, with increasing inflow of silver and outflow of silk, porcelains, and other goods. Commercialization, especially in the urban regions, yielded increasing needs for luxuries, antiques, and exotics. 2 The printing industry reached its peak by embracing a broader range of readers and cultural tastes.3 While the three major religions Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism found different ways to reinforce their own traditions, they further interacted with each other and contributed to a greater degree of intellectual and religious syncretism.4 On the other hand, however, the Ming Empire in its last fifty years faced a series of problems often seen in the dynastic cycle of Chinese imperial history: incompetent rulership, understaffed government, bureaucratic corruption and factionalism, fiscal deficits, flagging military strength, and degeneration of social ethics.5 In the following chapters of this book, we will find how these factors in one way or another helped shape the religious and cultural life of the Jesuits and Chinese converts in late Ming Fujian. When the first Jesuits Michele Ruggieri (Luo Mingjian 羅明堅, 1543–1607) and Matteo Ricci (Li Madou 利 瑪 竇 , 1552–1610) established a foothold in Guangdong in the 1580s, Christianity seemed to revive in China after centuries of oblivion. Compared to the Nestorians in the Tang dynasty and the Franciscans in 1

For a bibliographical description on KDRC, see A. Chan 2002, pp. 131-133.

2

See Clunas 1991.

3

See Chow 2004; Brokaw – Chow 2005; Chia 2002, and id. 2007, pp. 143-196.

4

See Berling 1980; Yü 1981; and Peterson 1998a and 1998b.

5

See, for example, R. Huang 1981, and id. 1988, pp. 511-584.

2

INTRODUCTION

the Yuan dynasty, the Jesuits who came to China during the late Ming period were highly disciplined, motivated by a Counter-Reformation background, and equipped with advanced scholastic education, new geographical knowledge, and renewed missionary passion. 6 They took the initiative to get involved in exchanges with late Ming Neo-Confucian scholars. This historic encounter presents a perfect example of how identities, beliefs, and behaviors may be formed or transformed in a complex process of mutual perception, (re)interpretation, (mis)understanding, adaptation, appropriation, and negotiation. Despite the fast growth of scholarship in this field, few efforts have been made to investigate the pattern of dialogue so frequently seen in late-Ming Christian writings. The main purpose of this study, therefore, is to make a full-scale investigation of this important genre. Whether in intellectual conversations, doctrinal catechisms, or apologetic debates, the dialogue pattern was consciously adopted by the leading Jesuits as a strategic device to promote Tianxue 天學 (Learning from Heaven). Most Confucian scholars also preferred dialogic exchanges with the “Western scholars” (Xiru 西儒), because similar practices had long been integrated into the transmission of Confucian knowledge. In this sense, the frequent use of dialogue forms in late Ming Christian writings deserves a thorough study on both literary and cultural levels. For the literary aspect, one should look closely at some key structural components of dialogue, such as the self–other prototype, thematic variety, and dialogical authority, in order to understand such a “fundamentally hybrid genre.”7 Culturally speaking, we should consider the “dialogical” situation of the late Ming Sino–Western encounter, in which the Jesuits and Chinese scholars were actively involved in producing a number of dialogical works, for example, Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 (True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, 1596) and Aleni’s Sanshan lunxue ji 三山論學 紀 (Record of Discussions on Learning in Sanshan, 1629). The trajectory from dialogue (in a generic sense) to one dialogic encounter (in a cultural sense) allows one to revisit the key Christian or Chinese concepts, images, and behaviors that cross cultural boundaries. In fact, the Jesuits and Ming Confucians did not simply discuss religious matters. They rather talked freely about a variety of topics of common concern, ranging among astronomy, mathematics, cartography, technology, medicine, paintings, and music. Modern scholars have made fruitful efforts to select, categorize, and analyze these topics from various sources. Interestingly enough, most of the topics can be found in the lively records of Kouduo richao. This inclusive character is manifested again in other Christian dialogic writings of the time. The phenomenon suggests two meaningful points which have not been fully explained in previous studies: First, the dynamic mechanisms of dialogue, either spoken or written, may have facilitated the Jesuits and Chinese scholars to freely engage in conversations ranging across both religious and cultural topics; second, 6

O’Malley 1993, pp. 225-264, 198-310.

7

Heitsch – Vallée 2004, “Foreword,” p. x.

INTRODUCTION

3

and more importantly, this type of dialogic exchanges seemed to create a favorable situation where hybrid religious and cultural products (e.g., ideas, images, objects, and rituals) could easily take shape. It is not my point to demonstrate that every Christian dialogue from the late Ming period carries these two features. Nor would I argue that other types of Christian works do not cover multiple subjects and hybrid concepts. Based on a thorough analysis of Kouduo richao, this work aims to prove that dialogism played a key role in fostering the awareness of a culturally different yet still comprehensible other to the Jesuits and late Ming Confucians. I would therefore propose the new approach of “dialogic hybridization” as a tool for reconceptualising the late Ming Sino–Western encounter.

The Jesuit–Confucian Encounter The Jesuits and Confucian scholars in the late Ming got involved in a paradoxical type of self–other relation. Each party has already established a distinctive selfidentity before a direct contact. The Jesuits upheld the universal truth of God to justify their spiritual conquest of heathen lands and peoples, while the Ming scholars still believed in the Sinocentric ideology embodied by such stereotyped terms as Tianxia 天下 (All under Heaven), Zhongguo 中國 (Middle Kingdom) and the Hua–Yi 華夷 (Chinese–barbarian) distinction. 8 Ironically, their perceptions of the self seemed to be intensified in this encounter, in which cultural messages were exchanged by means of active communications with the other. The Jesuits and Confucian scholars naturally resorted to their own traditions and found past models to either confirm the familiar knowledge of the self or to accept the unfamiliar knowledge of the other. Their exchanges on many interrelated subjects, such as the practical learning about heaven and earth, the true existence of a universal creator, spiritual cultivation, and ritual formality, revealed a complex two-way process of negotiation, appropriation, and hybridization. At one point, one party would make certain compromises to accept new ideas, images, and behaviours of the other. At another point, when conflicts arose and could not be resolved, the other may have been partly or even totally rejected by the self. As a result, the late Ming Jesuit–Confucian encounter may be called a special case of heteroglossia, in which a variety of interpersonal and intercultural voices are intertwined with each other.9 The complex ramifications of the self–other opposition explain why dialogue became a favourable device for the Jesuits and Chinese converts to achieve a certain type of understanding-in-between, or in other words, a hybrid understanding. However, ethnocentric concepts and feelings still loom large in this integrative hybridity. Not only did the conservative Confucians frequently make use of 8

For the Chinese representations of these Sinocentric terms in cartography, see R. Smith 1996, pp. 7-41.

9

Heteroglossia, a term originating in Mikhail Bakhtin’s literary criticism, refers to diverse social voices that interplay with each other through different speeches or utterances in a novel. See Holquist 1981, p. 263.

4

INTRODUCTION

stereotyped Sinocentric terms to oppose the “Western barbarians” (Xiyi 西夷), but the Confucian converts and sympathetic scholars would have accepted the foreign Christian religion in a sense that it conformed to and could benefit the “kingly rule” (wanghua 王化) in China. On the other side, the Jesuits who promoted a general adaptation to Chinese culture did not really put aside their Eurocentric mind when they created an idealized image of Christianity and Europe to counteract the Chinese myth of a “Middle Kingdom.” The ethnocentric affirmation of the self leads to two patterns of cultural understanding of the other. The first may be called a confrontation pattern. While the self is believed to be civilized, good, and always correct, the other is understood as exactly the opposite – uncivilized, bad, and mostly wrong. The second may be called an appropriation pattern. Even though the other is accepted by the self, his ideas and behaviors are often reinterpreted or misinterpreted at the latter’s discretion. In the confrontation pattern, there were organized anti-Christian movements in the early 17th century, in which xenophobic scholars and officials accused the Jesuits of being deceitful barbarians from the West who intended to confuse Chinese people and destroy the imperial rule. Likewise, some major components of Chinese cultural and social life, such as astrology and polygamy, never gained acceptance from the Jesuits’ side. There were also abundant examples of the second pattern, often considered as a case of cultural adaptation. The Jesuits’ choice of such terms as Tianzhu 天主 (Lord of Heaven) and Shangdi 上帝 (Lord-onHigh) obviously appropriated Chinese reverence to Heaven and their respect to classical texts. In the same manner, Chinese viewers, when looking at the image of the Virgin Mary presented by the Jesuits, would easily identify her with Guanyin 觀音 bodhisattva. To sum up, these intercultural understandings of confrontation and appropriation may be seen as a certain “implicit ethnography,” consisting of often unstated or assumed ideas (with later changes and readjustments as well) to make sense of one’s self-identity and one’s perceptions of others in a cross-cultural encounter.10 It is therefore the main task of this study to look into exemplary Christian works like Kouduo richao to find out different ways by which dialogue helps reveal and reshape one’s self-perception (or self-projection) in the process of perceiving others. In addition to the ethnocentric complex, we should pay attention to the entanglement of intellectuality and religiosity in both Christian and Confucian traditions, which may have also facilitated their dialogic exchanges in the late Ming encounter. The Jesuits gained strength from both medieval scholasticism and Renaissance humanism, so it is not at all surprising to see their effective integration of natural philosophy, moral knowledge, and spiritual cultivation. 11 Their emphasis on knowledge exchange has been well recognized as a key component of the so-called adaptation strategy. Western learning in astronomy, cartography,

10

Schwartz 1994, “Introduction,” pp. 2-4.

11

O’Malley 1993, pp. 244-264.

INTRODUCTION

5

mathematics, and engineering became the instrument for them to penetrate into the intellectual circles of Ming Confucians and carry out missionary work. On the other hand, in the midst of late Ming religious syncretism, Ming Confucians tended to pay more attention to spiritual well-being in place of rational thinking and raised more subtle religious inquiries on moral perfection and sagehood. According to Wang Shouren 王 守 仁 (1472–1529), the founder of the Learning of Mind-and-Heart School (xinxue 心學), as soon as a man senses liangzhi 良知 (innate knowledge), he will become enlightened and achieve sagehood. This subjective, individualistic approach suggests a Chan 禪 (Zen) Buddhist type of empiricism in response to the Song Neo-Confucian thought, which mainly focuses on human reasoning by means of gewu 格物 (investigation of things).12 The Jesuits would not tolerate heretical ideas from Chinese religions such as Buddhism and Daoism, but Confucian teachings with an emphasis on rational thinking and non-sectarian interest in spirituality could offer some room for dialogue. No wonder Ricci makes it clear in Tianzhu shiyi that, “The ‘nothingness’ dictated by Laozi and the ‘emptiness’ taught by Buddha are in great conflict with the doctrine of the Lord of Heaven. [...] As for the Confucian views on ‘existence’ and ‘sincerity’, although I have not heard a complete explanation, they seem very close (to the truth).”13 The existence of God for a missionary corresponds to the existence of Tianli 天 理 (Heavenly Principle) for a Confucian scholar. Confucian family or state rituals may also be linked with Catholic liturgies. Therefore, it was the entangled intellectual and religious interests that turned the Jesuit–Confucian encounter into a complex dialogical exchange. The term Tianxue frequently used by the Jesuits and Confucian converts can be further examined in this light. 14 It leads to an intercultural mixture, by means of which the Jesuits and Confucian scholars would recognize each other for some explicit or implicit ties between the Christian God and the Chinese Heaven. The remarkable presence of the dialogue pattern among late Ming Christian works is not an accidental phenomenon. Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu 天主實錄 (True Record of the Lord of Heaven, 1584) and Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi (1596) can serve as two early examples for the Jesuit–Confucian dialogical encounter. Both texts are structured with a sequence of questions and answers between a Westerner and 12

Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200), a leading Song Neo-Confucian, argues that the Mind (xin 心) and the Principle (li 理) are two opposite entities. The former is internal and dependent, while the latter is external and independent. However, Wang Shouren rejected Zhu’s Principle and expanded the function of the Mind to an ontological level. He says, “There is not a thing beyond the Mind, not an affair beyond the Mind, not a principle beyond the Mind, no rightness beyond the Mind, and no goodness beyond the Mind.” See “Letter to Wang Chunfu,” in Wang Yangming quanji, vol. 1, p. 156. This way of thinking is similar to the Chan Buddhist focus on the Mind to instantly achieve enlightenment. Wang himself also admitted more than once that there were some compatible points between Chan and Confucianism.

13

TCSI, p. 98. I have altered the quotation slightly.

14

Peterson 1998, pp. 789-839.

6

INTRODUCTION

a Chinese. In Tianzhu shilu, Ruggieri adopts the term seng 僧, typically referring to a Buddhist monk, as his identity. By contrast, Ricci in Tianzhu shiyi calls himself shi 士, a term primarily referring to a Confucian scholar. For Ricci, it must have made more sense to take the identity of a Western scholar and engage in intellectual discussions with the Confucian scholar on natural philosophy and Christian doctrines. The success of Ricci’s model led to a boom of “dialogical” works among later Jesuits and Confucian converts. According to a recent study, at least 590 Chinese Christian texts may have been composed in the 17thcentury.15 Among them, no less than 100 are embedded with one or more types of dialogue forms at varying degrees of frequency, and about half of them were produced in the first half of the 17th century.16 Interestingly, Aleni made a notable contribution to this group. Out of the twenty-three works that he published, ten adopt a dialogue form.17 In these dialogic works, the most commonly used device is a simple questionand-answer pattern, i.e., huowen 或問 (someone asks), huoyue 或曰 (someone says) or kewen 客問 (a guest asks) in pair with dayue 答曰 (answer). At times the names of the dialogists may be provided, while in some occasions general cultural identities are consciously adopted, e.g., Zhongshi 中士 (Chinese scholar) vs. Xishi 西士 (Western scholar) or Xi xiansheng 西先生 (Western master). These works not only fulfill catechetical, apologetic, preaching, and liturgical purposes, but they also have the great capacity to cover a wide range of scientific, artistic, and cultural subjects. Given their impressive number and variety in late Ming Christian literature, I would further explore how these works have served as an effective medium for the Jesuit missionaries and Confucian scholars to engage in dialogic self–other exchanges during their cross-cultural encounter.

15

HCC 1, p. 600.

16

See Appendix I for a list of more than 50 texts in dialogue forms. The results are mainly based upon a survey of several modern series of Chinese Christian texts, including Tianxue chuhan 天 學 初 函 (First Collection of Texts on the Learning from Heaven, 1965), Tianzhujiao dongchuan wenxian 天主教東傳文獻 (Documents on Catholic Missions to the East, 1997), Tianzhujiao dongchuan wenxian xubian 天主教東傳文獻續編 (Second Series of Documents on Catholic Missions to the East, 2000). Tianzhujiao dongchuan wenxian sanbian 天主教東傳文獻三編 (Third Series of Documents on Catholic Missions to the East, 1998), Xujiahui cangshulou Ming–Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian 徐家匯藏書樓明清天主 教 文 獻 (Chinese Christian Texts from the Zikawei Library, 1996), Yesuhui Luoma dang’anguan Ming–Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian (Chinese Christian Texts from the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus, 2002), Faguo Guojia tushuguan Ming–Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian 法國國家圖書館明清天主教文獻 (Chinese Christian Texts from the National Library of France, 2009), Xujiahui cangshulou Ming-Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian 徐家匯藏書 樓明清天主教文獻續編 (Sequel to Chinese Christian Texts from the Zikawei Library, 2013).

17

For an overview of Aleni’s works, including those using dialogue forms, see Chapter 2.1.4.

INTRODUCTION

7

Kouduo richao: Significance and Uniqueness Kouduo richao is a unique exemplary text among late Ming dialogical Christian works. 18 It records throughout all its eight volumes the conversations between Giulio Aleni, three of his fellow Jesuits, and more than seventy Chinese figures, most of them being local converts in Fujian. As Zürcher insightfully puts it, Among the dozens of texts composed by late Ming and early Qing converts it stands out as the only source that allows us a glimpse of Jesuit missionary practice – “accommodation in action” – and of the various responses of their Chinese audience, both converts and interested outsiders. It also shows us the working of the underlying processes of selection, adaptation, and integration by which, in the milieu of local Confucian elites, the foreign creed was transformed into a marginal Chinese minority religion.19

Kouduo richao not only serves as a rare source for Jesuit missionary practice during the mid-17th century, but it also is a watershed in the late Ming and early Qing Christian writings. For one thing, largely due to the Jesuits’ endeavours in the earlier decades, Chinese Catholic communities in Fujian, Zhejiang, and other provinces had a notable growth in the early Qing. This factor contributed to an 18

There are many extant copies and reprints of KDRC, partial or complete, currently held in major collections of Chinese Christian texts. I have personally seen several copies in the Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu (Rome), Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele II (Rome), Bibliothèque nationale de France (Paris), and Fu Ssu-nien Library at Academia Sinica (Taipei). In the copy held in ARSI (Jap. Sin. I. 81), there are eight volumes in four parts, with two volumes each. The copy (Shelf 72B.350) held in BNC.VE also has all eight volumes in four bound parts, with two volumes in each part. Part 1, 2, and 4 are printed on thick paper, but part 3 is oddly printed on thin fragile paper and appears much older in time than the other three parts. There are two prefaces written by Lin Yijun 林一儁 (first in order) and Zhang Geng 張賡 (second in order). Unlike the handwritten form of these two prefaces in the ARSI copy, the BNC copy shows print styles, with Lin’s preface in li 隸 (clerical) style yet Zhang’s in kai 楷 (standard) style. The preface and illustration of Li Jiubiao 李九標 that follow look identical to the one in the ARSI copy, but there are still differences that indicate the use of different printing woodblocks. In the table of contents, the ARSI copy has only the first six volumes, with volumes 5 and 6 marked by sike 嗣刻 (subsequently printed), whereas the BNC copy contains all eight volumes, with volumes 7 and 8 also marked by sike. Volume eight of the BNC copy has one line difference from the ARSI copy after folio 25a, possibly because the last few words in the first paragraph “非人所能易測者也” are scaled down to some smaller characters in the ARSI copy to fit the room, probably due to an editorial correction. But the mistake does not appear in the later edition of the BNC copy. The ARSI copy has a division mark “口鐸日抄 卷之 X 終” after volume 3, while the BNC copy shows the same mark through all eight volumes. The copy (Chinois 7114) held in BnF looks identical with the ARSI copy, and the library also holds several incomplete duplicates and later reprints. In addition, there are two copies of KDRC held in Fu Ssu-nien Library, Taipei. The eight-volume copy (A 245.3.161) looks identical with the BNC copy, but the six-volume copy (A 246.2.261) is bound separately and appears to be an earlier edition without volumes 7 and 8 in both the table of contents and the main text.

19

KDRC, vol. 1, “Preface,” p. 7.

8

INTRODUCTION

increasing number of dialogical works made by local Confucian elites, who did not necessarily engage themselves in the civil service examinations or official duties but rather strove to maintain close contacts with the Jesuits in nearby localities. Of course, their influence cannot be compared to that of those elite converts in the late Ming, including Xu Guangqi 徐光啟 (1562–1633), Li Zhizao 李 之藻 (1569–1630), and Yang Tingyun 楊廷筠 (1557–1626). Nonetheless, their personal reputations and social connections, as we see among the contributors in Kouduo richao, have played a key role in the growth of the Jesuit mission in Fujian. Their works, often adopting a certain dialogue form, led to another layer of implications in the dialogical encounter of the Jesuits and late Ming Confucian scholars. Without doubt, like other Jesuits of his time, Aleni advocated the Tianxue to serve a religious purpose. In Kouduo richao, especially the first few volumes, he discussed Western astronomy and geography with Li Jiubiao 李九標 and a few other literati converts. This kind of “scientific” knowledge is further adopted by him in refutation of “superstitious” Chinese astrology and geomancy. Since science is only considered the preliminary stage in knowing the Lord of Heaven, it is necessary to instruct his convert disciples on moral and spiritual learning for further improvement. Moreover, these stages are carried out in tandem with a series of visual representations, such as the illustrated life of Christ and manuals on essential Catholic liturgies, which may also be attributed to Aleni’s efforts. In sum, hardly any other Jesuit can be compared to Aleni in introducing a whole set of the Tianxue. Lin Yijun 林一儁 (?–1679), a literati convert from Jin’an 晉安, highly praises Aleni in his preface to Kouduo richao, The admonitions given by the masters may be oral, but that by which they [really] admonish us is not oral. Qixiang 其香 [courtesy name of Li Jiubiao] could transmit their oral admonitions, but what he could not transmit is the way the masters are admonishing us by their personal conduct and their state of mind. The oral part is now finally preserved in Qixiang’s diary, but the admonitions they give us by their conduct and mind must be preserved in our own daily self-examination.20

It is interesting to note that Lin would stress three aspects of Aleni’s instructions: speech (kouduo 口鐸), conduct (shenduo 身鐸), and mind (xinduo 心鐸). They not only summarize Aleni’s great missionary efforts, but they also indicate a process of self-perfection through moral and spiritual cultivations in both Christian and Confucian terms. Lin’s remarks reflect how Aleni successfully blended Christian concepts, images, and rituals into the Chinese context to introduce the universal truth of God. Literally meaning “a large bell,” the term duo is also a 20

KDRC, vol. 1, p. 19, pp. 185-186. Note: For convenience of reference, I quote page numbers in the CCT ARSI reprint instead of the traditional Chinese volume numbers and folio numbers. The translated texts here and in all later occasions are from Zürcher’s work, sometimes with minor modifications I felt necessary.

INTRODUCTION

9

symbolic reference to knowledge transmission by means of conversations between master and disciple. It leaves enough room for Aleni to present a familiar yet somewhat different Tianxue, and it meanwhile enables Chinese converts to express their own interests, ideas, and feedback in a dialogic exchange. Compared to other late Ming dialogic works, Kouduo richao has a few distinctive features. First is collaborative authorship: the work is based on accumulated notes made by a group of local elite converts in different places in Fujian. They considered themselves the disciples of Aleni, who was called Master Ai (Ai xiansheng 艾先生) and at times was referred to as “Confucius from the West” (Xilai Kongzi 西來孔子).21 Aleni did not ask the converts to record his homilies or admonitions, but he must have been aware of their efforts and did not object the circulation of his teachings by means of printing. In his preface, Li Jiubiao claims that he has collected some piles of notes on the Jesuit masters’ instructions. With more notes sent to him from converts in other places that Aleni had visited, and their help in compilation, correction, and other editorial issues, Li could finally put together an eight-volume work. 22 This composite work may easily remind us of the Lunyu 論語 (Analects of Confucius). As one of the essential textbooks in the Confucian school, it features a loosely structured compilation of the words and acts of Confucius (Kongzi 孔子, ca. 551 – ca. 479 B.C.E.), as well as conversations between him and his convert disciples. The collaborative authorship indicates a master–disciple pattern of knowledge transmission that reached its peak among the Song and Ming Neo-Confucian writings. The compilers of Kouduo richao obviously hoped to produce a scholarly work in the same fashion. In so doing, they may have not only retained their original Confucian identity but also assumed the new identity as a Catholic convert. No other dialogic text in late Ming Christian literature has shown such a conscious, strategic effort. Second, Kouduo richao has a special realistic style. Although the homilies and dialogues being recorded in it are not a verbatim, complete reproduction, we cannot deny the fact that the work offers reliable first-hand accounts for us to recover the daily exchanges and activities of the Jesuits and Chinese converts in late Ming Fujian. Most other dialogic works employ anonymous or metaphorical names instead of real names, and few can be compared with Kouduo richao in presenting detailed accounts on the live conversations in real circumstances. Moreover, the chief editor Li Jiubiao consciously arranged the Jesuits’ admonitions in a chronological order, using both Chinese reign system and Catholic liturgical dates, often interweaved with short descriptive episodes. The work therefore employs a composite style mixing together analectic, chronological, and

21

Han Lin 韓霖 – Zhang Geng 張賡, “Yesuhui Xilai zhuwei xiansheng xingshi” 耶穌會西來 諸位先生姓氏 (Short Biographies of the Western Masters in the Society of Jesus Coming from the West), in WXSB, vol. 1, p. 311.

22

KDRC, vol. 1, pp. 15-16.

10

INTRODUCTION

narrative components. With this special feature, Kouduo richao opens a new dimension to late Ming Christian dialogism. Third, Kouduo richao is targeted at a specific group of readers – Chinese converts in Fujian Catholic communities. The intended readers, as Zürcher points out, should be “the community of believers.”23 In his preface, Li Jiubiao writes, “How selfish would I, a young fellow, be, if I dare to keep them for myself, as something secret hidden behind curtains? I now respectfully publish them for the benefit of my fellow-believers. As regards literary style I simply choose clear and fluent expressions, without caring about the artistic quality of the text.”24 Here literary embellishment is not the most important issue, but Li would rather leave his fellow-believers a faithful, timely record of the Jesuit masters’ oral admonitions. The fact that Kouduo richao has many different editions is clear evidence of its wide circulation during and after the 17th century. In a sense, it served as an effective medium for networking in the formation and expansion of the Chinese Catholic communities. The significance of Kouduo richao can also be proved in an early Qing imitation called Xu Kouduo richao 續口鐸日抄 (Follow-up of Diary of Oral Admonitions, 1698). This work is only in one volume and covers a short time span from August 1696 to December 1697. It was compiled by the Chinese convert Zhao Lun 趙侖 from Jiading 嘉定, Jiangsu, on the homilies of the well-known Chinese priest Wu Li 吳歷 (1632–1718) and the conversations between him and local converts. Zhao explicitly calls himself a follower of the Li brothers, namely, Li Jiubiao and Li Jiugong 李九功 (?–1681).25 Not only did he borrow the title of Kouduo richao, but he also tried to follow its original structure and style. The intentional imitation may have been affected by the attitude of Wu Li, who in a meeting with local converts specifically mentioned the title of Kouduo richao. He said: The Lord of Heaven chose me among other people to spread the sacred religion and set up a model for preaching. One should fully comply with the different rules and regulations. The admonitions such as “no slander” and “no ridicule” have been prescribed in detail in our Society’s regulations. Some important books in the Learning from Heaven and valuable Confucian works should be carefully studied as well. For those like the Refutation of False Ideas (Pi wang 闢妄), the Diary (Richao 日抄), and Hu Yin’s preface to the Discussion on the Veneration of Truth (Chongzheng bian 崇正辯), you must read them thoroughly and ponder them carefully in preparation for any unexpected debates.26

23

KDRC, vol. 1, p. 26.

24

Ibid., vol. 1, p. 23, p. 187. I change the translation of “little child” (xiaozi 小子 in the original text) to “a young fellow.”

25

Zhao Lun, Xu Kouduo richao, in Zhang Wenqin 2007, p. 610.

26

Ibid., p. 601.

INTRODUCTION

11

The Chinese title Richao Wu Li refers to is certainly the late Ming work Kouduo richao. In his mind, this work is important for a practical concern. Since it records a wide range of real questions and debates faced by the Jesuits and Fujian converts a few decades earlier, Wu Li and the Jiading converts could draw inspiration from the previous examples in building their own Christian community. Understandably, we often come across entries in Xu Kouduo richao that look fairly similar to the homilies of Aleni in Kouduo richao.27 A realistic picture of church life in Jiading, this imitative work meanwhile serves as a piece of solid evidence for Kouduo richao’s popularity in early Qing Christian readership. The imitation and similarities, however, cannot hide a few notable differences between the two works. In Kouduo richao, the “master” is a Jesuit priest (either Aleni or one of his three confreres). In Xu Kouduo richao, “master” refers only to the Chinese priest Wu Li. The former has a collaborative authorship, while the latter is composed by a single author. Compared with the time span of ten years in the former, the latter covers a much shorter period of less than two years. Moreover, the thematically diversified conversations in Kouduo richao embody the Tianxue in the broadest sense, but in Xu Kouduo richao the conversations are primarily about doctrinal, liturgical topics. 28 The more we compare these two works, the more we can appreciate the unique value of Kouduo richao as an exemplary piece of 17th-century Christian dialogic literature. During the early Qing period, there also appeared a group of works using the same word kouduo in the title. They may be put into three categories: The first is a series of handwritten copies titled Zhanli kouduo 瞻禮口鐸 (Oral Admonitions for Feast Days, ca. 1650s), which contain homilies of Francesco Brancati (Pan Guoguang 潘國光, 1607–1671) and Girolamo de Gravina (Jia Muyi 賈宜睦, 1603–1662). 29 The second category includes a series of copies titled Zhounian Zhanli kouduo 週年瞻禮口鐸 (Oral Admonitions for Feast Days in a Year, ca. 1690s), attributed to the Chinese priest Lu Xiyan 陸希言 (1630–1704). 30 The 27

Zhang Wenqin 2007, pp. 586, 588, 599, 600, 605, 608, 627.

28

For a detailed comparison between these two works, see Xiao Qinghe 2008a, pp. 119-121.

29

There are at least four copies in this first category, preserved in Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris), Bodleian Library (Oxford), and Zikawei (Shanghai) respectively. For a modern reprint copy, see CCT BnF, vol. 17. In the Zikawei collection, a copy titled Zhounian zhanli kouduo 週年瞻禮口鐸 is marked with the names of Brancati and Lu Xiyan. It seems that the two authors have been erroneously put in the same copy, and the content in it is apparently different from other identified copies. There are two other copies, titled Kouduo hechao 口鐸合抄 and Chongding kouduo hechao 重訂口鐸合抄, which record the homilies by Brancati and Gravina. The content (with undated entries) is similar to, but not fully identical with the BnF copy (often with dated entries). More research should be done to clarify the connections between these copies.

30

For a modern reprint copy, see CCT BnF, vols. 9, 10, and 11. In the Zikawei collection, a few copies with slightly different titles have been attributed to Lu Xiyan. See Dudink 2011, p. 28. But again the undated homilies of one copy titled Zhounian zhuri zhanli kouduo 週年 主日瞻禮口鐸 differs from the dated homilies of the BnF copy.

12

INTRODUCTION

third category includes a group of other anonymous kouduo-type copies, mostly from the homilies for feast days or some earlier Jesuit works, for example, the Shengjing zhijie 聖經直解 (Literal Explanations of the Sacred Scriptures, 1636) of Manuel Dias (Yang Manuo 陽瑪諾, 1574–1659).31 These kouduo works gave rise to a special genre, first introduced by Aleni and the converts in late Ming Fujian and later adopted by early Qing Christians. However, they do not use the characteristic pattern of master–disciple dialogue found in Kouduo richao. Nor do they pay attention to the intellectual topics discussed so frequently by Aleni and his convert disciples. As a result, there appeared a noticeable change for the meaning of the word kouduo from the late Ming to the early Qing. It was no longer a dialogic master–disciple exchange, but a monologic preaching made by the priest without the presence of a convert audience, not to mention any inquiries and feedbacks from the latter. To a certain extent, the changes in format and content from Kouduo richao to later kouduo works may reinforce two important observations in recent scholarship: the vanishing role of literati converts in intellectual exchanges with the Jesuit “scholars,” and the rise of a localized Christian religion in early Qing China.

Review of Previous Studies A. Major Methodologies

Up until the past two decades, studies of Chinese Christianity in the late imperial period have mainly followed two theoretical approaches. The first is the “transmission” approach, by which scholars tend to emphasize the positive influence of missionary works on Chinese culture. This approach has been adopted by early Western and Chinese scholars in this field. For example, in his documentarybased work Zhong–Xi jiaotong shi 中西交通史 (History of Sino–Western Cultural Exchanges), Fang Hao 方豪 (1910–1980) counts contributions of the Jesuits in China in such categories as theology, astronomy, mathematics, geography, painting, architecture, and music. He also lists remarkable influences of Chinese classical thoughts, porcelain, and arts transmitted back to Europe by the Jesuits. Many of Fang’s contemporaries, including Xiang Da 向達 (1900–1966), Pasquale d’Elia (1890–1963), and Kenneth K.S. Ch’en (Chen Guansheng 陳觀勝, b. 1907), would adopt similar approaches.32 They stress the productive nature of the late Ming and early Qing Sino–Western encounter, in which cultural messages are exchanged in both directions: from Europe to China and vice versa. The Jesuits who introduce and in a way monopolize the Tianxue are thus given the central role as transmitters in between Chinese and Western cultures. Consequently, this 31

There are about eight copies of this category in the Zikawei collection. Except Zhu zhanli kouduo 諸瞻禮口鐸, an adaptation of Dias’ Shengjing zhijie, all other copies are undated and anonymous. For catalogue information, see Xu Zongze 2006, p. 72; Dudink 2011, pp. 5, 26-28.

32

Standaert 2002, pp. 6-12.

INTRODUCTION

13

approach results in primarily missiological narratives and hagiographical accounts on the achievements and impacts of prominent Jesuit missionaries.33 However, if we carefully read the texts and contexts of the late Ming encounter, we will find that in such a framework certain key aspects are left unnoticed. In order to be considered successful, a cross-cultural transmission has to rely upon a presumption that those messages being transmitted should remain unchanged from one culture to another. This is not the case in the late Ming. Many Christian concepts, images, and behaviors changed their original European meanings after they were introduced to China by the Jesuits who advocated an adaptation strategy. Late Ming Chinese, on the other hand, rendered a variety of their own understandings and interpretations, thereby reacting on the supposedly oneway transmission process. Obviously, the presumption of faithful transmission sounds idealized and it lacks awareness of the alteration in messages brought about by such negative factors as misappropriation, misinterpretation, and rejection. Moreover, the cultural transmission launched by the Jesuits in China was a highly selective one. They introduced a whole range of ideas of Western origin – theological, moral, scientific, and artistic, but they presented a carefully-made selection to fit a Chinese taste (whether consciously or not) and meanwhile avoided transmitting certain concepts from the post-Renaissance context. For example, though Copernicus’ heliocentric theory began to attract increasing attention in early 17th-century Europe, the Jesuits did not show much enthusiasm to introduce it as one recent development in European astronomy. Many of them would rather stay in line with the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic cosmic system long endorsed by the Roman Church. 34 Moreover, the Jesuits produced a number of eulogistic accounts of Christianity and European cultures. The dark side of medieval European history and its legacy of war and destruction were consciously omitted in their representations of Europe as the idealized other, or a civilized counterpart of the Chinese Middle Kingdom. In this sense, we can understand why Aleni at times tried to avoid talking about the newest yet controversial theories in contemporary Europe, but would not hesitate to compare reverence to the Lord of Heaven to a son’s filial piety towards his parents, or point to a similar concern for the five moral relations in both Europe and China. In their efforts to balance between the Catholic norms, innovative ideas of post-Renaissance humanism, and practical concerns of the Chinese audience, the Jesuits did not always “transmit” the messages in a faithful manner.

33

Zürcher 1995a, pp. 264-274; Standaert 1997, pp. 573-574.

34

Ferdinand Verbiest, for example, chose to represent a modified version of the geocentric model made by Tycho Brahe (1546–1601). See Song – Demattè 2007, pp. 71-87. One of the earliest Chinese references to the heliocentric model is Xueji sangao 學箕三稿 (Third Draft on Astronomical Studies, ca. 1700) by Huang Baijia 黃百家 (1643–1709). For an analysis of his reference and the possible sources from the Jesuit scientists, see Yang Xiaoming 1999, pp. 67-73.

14

INTRODUCTION

The second academic approach in studies on Chinese Christianity is characterized as a “reception” approach, which centers on works by late Ming Chinese people, especially those anti-Christian scholars. It is a critical response to the optimistic views and missionary-centered interests shown in the transmission framework. For example, by referring to numerous late Ming and early Qing anti-Christian texts, Jacques Gernet in Chine et Christianisme: Action et Réaction (1982) highlights a set of fundamental differences between the two cultures. The Chinese believe in the unity and interconnectivity of all things in the universe, which is created by natural or supernatural forces rather than an omnipotent god. Even though the Jesuits succeed in adapting some essential Confucian concepts and winning over a group of elite converts, there are still irreconcilable differences, conflicts, and rejections for both sides to reach a mutual understanding. Gernet concludes that only through adaptation could Christianity take root in China, but it may not be possible for the Chinese to be converted in true Christian terms. 35 With more attention to the Chinese reactions to Christianity and Western culture, his research offers a different angle for scholars to examine the late Ming cross-cultural encounter. The methodological shift from the transmission approach to the reception approach also signals a re-orientation in light of the China-centered theories advocated by scholars in historical studies on China since the 1980s.36 The missiological, Eurocentric “history of Western missions in China” gave way to a different China-centered “history of Chinese Christianity,” which in turn was reinforced by post-1980 Mainland China scholars in their renewed interests in Sino–Western cultural exchanges in history.37 Gernet’s reception approach has met serious criticisms as well. Its overemphasis on the misunderstanding and mutual exclusion between Chinese and European cultures seems to be problematic. Instead of asserting the preservation of cultural messages in a transmission process, the reception approach indicates the assumption that the actors in an encounter are unlikely to change due to their attachment to the ethnocentric self. In the late Ming case, it was very difficult, if not impossible, for the Jesuits and Chinese scholars to adjust or change their perceptions of the other, thus overcoming differences and moving towards a mutual understanding. This assumption, as one may expect, puts late Ming Chinese into a passive situation, where their diverse responses to the foreign Christian religion are not easy to discern. In fact, no matter whether converts, sympathizers, or anti-Christians, the key issue was more about their willingness to communicate with the Christian other, rather than their ability to comprehend it fully. In his study on Yang Tingyun’s mixed Confucian-Christian identity, Nicolas Standaert proves that the Chinacentered approach does not always lead to the conclusion of incompatibility be35

Gernet 1985, pp. 64-104.

36

See, for example, Cohen 1984.

37

Zürcher 1995a, pp. 275-276; Rule 1994, pp. 52-59; Zhang Kaiyuan 2001, pp. 29-39; Huang Yi-long 1999, pp. 448-476; and Standaert 2005, pp. 295-316.

INTRODUCTION

15

tween Christianity and Confucianism. 38 Aleni’s dialogic exchanges with Fujian Confucian converts, as we can see in Kouduo richao, also reveal a process in which the latter group can overcome various doubts, express their own voices and make creative interpretations, as well as achieve a deeper understanding of the Christian belief. Of course, ethnocentricity may still play a role in both cases, but it does not define a wide range of variables between the extremes of incompatibility and total adoption, which are largely embedded in the Jesuit–Confucian dialogues. In the past two decades an increasing number of studies have brought new approaches to the late Ming intercultural encounter. By using the concept “intellectual colonization,” Zhang Qiong argues that the Jesuits introduced a package of Western intellectual traditions, such as Platonic metaphysics, AristotelianScholastic natural philosophy, and skills of argumentation, in order to “colonize” or “Christianize” late Ming Confucians. Here intellectual transmission is treated as a crucial factor to both the success and failure of the Jesuits’ mission in China. The “colonialist” missionaries not only selectively introduced Western learning to manifest the dominant Catholic orthodoxy, but they also aggressively proceeded further in this direction when they understood the fundamental differences between Confucian and Catholic spiritualities. 39 Zhang’s theory challenges the popular “cultural accommodation” perspective by situating the Jesuits’ China mission in the context of Catholic-Confucian confrontation. Though the Jesuits were socially and doctrinally more flexible than other contemporary missionaries, they could not hide their “attempts to destroy the ‘otherness’ of the Chinese culture by transforming the latter in light of Western Scholastic learning.”40 Zhang’s claim of a disguised “intellectual colonization” is not to be confused with the “colonialism” or “cultural invasion” theories among normative 20th century nationalist and communist narratives. 41 It focuses on the Eurocentric tendency in the Jesuits’ construction of a Scholastic-Catholic cultural network. However, there is still a trace of one-sidedness that has been often questioned by scholars in cross-cultural studies. For one thing, the approach tends to assume that the Jesuits maintained an unchanged self-identity throughout their exchanges with the Chinese. This is at odds with a general observation that during the 17th and 18th centuries the Jesuits did not really possess the power to realize a “colonialist” Catholic enterprise. To use such terms as ethnocentrism, monoculturalism, universalism, and exclusivism on the Jesuits sounds awkward, if not totally erroneous, because these same terms may also be applied to the Chinese with a stereotyped Sinocentric ideology. The key issue is not whether the Jesuits (self ) succeeded in subduing the Chinese (other), but how they willingly adjusted them38

Standaert 1988, pp. 210-226.

39

Zhang Qiong 1996, pp. 1-22.

40

Ibid., p. 21.

41

For surveys on the nationalist and communist interpretations, see Standaert 2005, pp. 299300, 306-311; Zhang Xianqing 1998, pp. 114-123.

16

INTRODUCTION

selves in exchange with the other. In this sense, the “colonization” approach is not convincing enough to characterize the late Ming and early Qing encounter, in which neither the Jesuits nor Chinese scholars would have considered themselves colonists or colonized subjects. In addition to “intellectual colonization,” attention has been paid to Chinese Christian life in various regional contexts. Compared to Gernet and his reception approach, scholars who take this microscopic approach share a similar concern about Chinese converts, but they would apply the approach to specific case studies and avoid Gernet’s one-sided presumption. For example, by looking into Fujian Catholic communities, Zürcher argues for a “popular Christianity” in contrast to the previous emphasis on “elite Christianity.” The main actors in his study are not high-ranking officials and best-known scholars, but people coming from the lower classes. The lower echelons of Confucian scholars also belong to this category of popular Christianity, which is defined by Zürcher as “an indigenous complex of beliefs and practices that was only marginally controlled by the foreign missionaries, and that by its amalgamation with popular ‘heterodox’ cults and rituals easily could become the target of suspicion and repression [by the government].”42 This approach, more or less tied with historical anthropology, attracted much interest in both Western and Chinese scholarship.43 Zürcher’s approach is adopted and further developed in two monographic studies by Eugenio Menegon and Zhang Xianqing. Menegon presents an in-depth study on the enduring Dominican-led Catholic community in Fu’an, northeast Fujian, in the late imperial period. He argues that the “Confucian Christianity” model, or the accommodation to the cultural imperatives of Confucian orthodoxy, is not applicable to the experiences of Fu’an converts. In fact, these converts did not maintain a new religious identity by following dominant social and ideological norms. It turned out to be a process of localization featuring frequent confrontations, negotiations, and adaptations among missionaries, converts, local lineages, and state authority. Regardless of the strict prohibition policy issued by Emperor Yongzheng 雍正 (r. 1723–1735), Fu’an Catholic communities could still survive the episodic outbursts of state intrusion. Like other lay groups, they managed to “fit literally within a physical space of local religious toleration that existed below the surface of state-imposed order.”44 Zhang Xianqing’s research also focuses on the Catholic community in Fu’an from the 17th century to the 19th century. What makes his study intriguing, however, is his argument on the key role of local lineages that contributed to the survival and development of Christianity in rural China. Through a fusion of field work and historic analysis of the exemplary Fu’an case, Zhang reveals a Christian religion closely attached to the lineage organizations. They not only served as a buffer to state control and persecution in the anti-Christian events, but also 42

Zürcher 1985, p. 373.

43

Standaert 1997, p. 586.

44

Menegon 2009, pp. 1-10.

INTRODUCTION

17

helped consolidate a collective Christian identity by means of genealogy, ritual practices, marriage, and extensive social networks. Like Menegon, Zhang also doubts Zürcher’s definition of Chinese Christianity as a “marginal religion” (or “minority religion”). He instead argues that Christianity in Fu’an should be called a “regional mainstream religion,” not in line with the “adaptive” Jesuits’ model but rather with the “imperative” Dominican model.45 By showing a keen concern about both regional lower-class (rural) perspectives, Zhang’s study echoes that of Menegon to show a more complex but realistic Chinese Church life in the late imperial Fujian. In addition to the above two studies on the Fujian mission, scholars have adopted the localization paradigm to investigate many other regional Catholic communities. They include, for example, Entenmann on Sichuan (1992), Tiedemann (1996) and Mungello (2001) on Shandong, Sweeten on Jiangxi (2001), Huang Yi-long on Shanxi (1996, 2004), and Kang Zhijie on Hubei (2006).46 In these studies, we find diverse forms of the localization of Christianity in late imperial China. The conclusions are more or less similar: Once a Christian community is established in a region, it tends to utilize all possible means to develop into a persistent part of the local cultural and religious landscape. In light of this approach, scholars also bring forth new concerns in their research: the social and religious networks among Chinese converts, as well as the interweaving of Chinese and Christian rituals.47 The localization approach may avoid the defects in previous transmission and reception approaches, and it allows us to look into a complex process of confrontations, negotiations, and adaptations in daily religious beliefs and activities between Christianity and Chinese folk society in a region.48 However, this approach is not able to reflect the distinct feature of dialogism found in Kouduo richao and dozens of other late Ming dialogic texts. As a special type of literary genre, dialogue may cover a broad range of cultural messages which go beyond the dichotomy between upper class and lower class, a methodological principle embedded in the aforementioned studies. In Aleni’s Fujian mission, he not only discussed a variety of metaphysical subjects with elite scholars but also engaged in conversations with the lower-level literati, commoners, or even Daoist believers on varied practical subjects. Of course, Kouduo richao may be explored from historical and 45

Zhang Xianqing 2009a, pp. 304-319.

46

See, for example, Mungello 2001, pp. 31-54, 77-122; Sweeten 2001, pp. 177-195; Kang Zhijie 2006, pp. 11-198; Entenmann 1992, pp. 147-162; Tiedemann 1996, pp. 339-382; and Huang Yi-long 1996, pp. 1-39.

47

For major studies on the social networks associated with Aleni in Fujian, see Lin Jinshui 1992, pp. 55-66, 99; id. 1994a, pp. 225-241; id. 1994b, pp. 78-104; id. 1996, pp. 184-202; Dudink 1997, pp. 129-200, Zhang Xianqing 2009b. In studying a group of first-generation Chinese converts in the late Ming and early Qing period, Huang Yi-long also puts much emphasis on family lineages and social networks, see id. 2006. For recent studies on Catholic liturgies, see Standaert – Dudink 2006; Standaert 2008.

48

See, for example, Lee 2003; Wu Fei 2001.

18

INTRODUCTION

anthropological perspectives for a deeper understanding of the “localization” of Christianity in Fujian Catholic communities, but we cannot ignore the use of dialogism throughout the work. The generic mechanisms of dialogue, as will be discussed in the next chapter, may not necessarily be confined by such external factors as lineages and social networks. B. Studies on Kouduo richao

As mentioned earlier, Kouduo richao is a text with distinct features in late Ming Christian literature. Theoretically speaking, any of the above major methodologies can be applied to the text: 1. Aleni’s homilies and instructions can be seen as part of the Jesuits’ “transmission” of Catholic doctrines; 2. Aleni’s use of Western sciences in his missionary work may serve as evidence of the “intellectual colonization”; 3. The responses from converts and non-believers may inform us of a valuable sample case in terms of Chinese “reception”; 4. The regional focus (Fujian) and a popular orientation (actors from middle-lower classes, communal worship, family conversion, and social networks, etc.) may also contribute to the “localization” or “indigenization” of Christianity in late imperial China. Hence, it is not surprising to see that many efforts have been made in the past twenty years to explore Kouduo richao from a variety of perspectives. In the monumental work on Aleni (Lippiello – Malek 1997), three articles use Kouduo richao as the main source for analysis. By using its extensive report, Dudink tries to present two distinct phases of Aleni’s mission in Fujian, from his early efforts to build an intellectual network with the elite Confucians and high officials between 1625 and 1629 to his later emphasis on missionary work among the lower echelon of literati after 1629. The article also provides a solid evidential study on how Li Jiubiao, the chief editor of Kouduo richao, built a Confucian network through collaborative efforts in editing Zhenshu 枕書 (Pillow Book), a work on Confucian statecraft. These findings, though not treating the actual themes in both Kouduo richao and Zhenshu, suggest an interesting identity complex which Aleni and Fujian converts had to face in the late Ming context.49 Lin Jinshui, on the other hand, examines in his article the “adaptation method” of Aleni. From Kouduo richao and other related works, he identified a series of religious subjects (e.g., God, Christ and the Holy Spirit, human nature, sacraments, eschatology, etc.) to explicate the major aspects of “adaptation” carried out by Aleni. Lin still follows the transmission approach with a typical missiological focus, so his conclusion on the essential missionary strategies, such as fusing Confucian ideas into the Christian doctrine and using Western scientific knowledge in missionary work, simply reinforces what we have learnt in previous scholarship.50 The third study is Zürcher’s epilogue in the book, in which he gives an insightful analysis on how Aleni exerted continuous impact on Fujian converts 49

Dudink 1997, pp. 129-152.

50

Lin Jinshui 1997.

INTRODUCTION

19

through a “verbal communication.” The exceptional values of Kouduo richao, such as authentic records of “Aleni in action,” Western rhetoric devices in actual discourse, focus on obscure members of the local gentry, and coverage of both religious and secular topics. However, Zürcher does not take the work as a representative record of Aleni’s homilies and instructions, mainly because it is a “collection of disconnected minuscule fragments or ‘jottings’.” His view, as will be challenged in this study, seems to neglect the essential nature of the work as a master–disciple type of dialogue, the content of which may naturally tend to be selective and fluid to represent the diverse, often changing voices among the interlocutors. Though Zürcher acknowledges certain hybrid beliefs and practices from Kouduo richao, he is of the opinion that Aleni slowly turns to more puristic and much less hybridized or Confucianized homilies in the later parts of the work. This view agrees with Dudink’s findings on the one hand but conflicts with Lin’s findings on the other.51 The three articles above take three different perspectives – evidential, theological, and rhetorical – in studying the same work. Despite their similar or different findings, such variety reveals multi-layered meanings out of the interpersonal and intercultural dialogues recorded in Kouduo richao. In the 1990s, some other efforts from Chinese and Western scholarship have been made in connection with Kouduo richao. Lin Jinshui, for example, published a series of articles on Aleni’s Fujian mission, in which Kouduo richao appears frequently as a key historical source to recover the socio-religious networks collaboratively created by Aleni, sympathetic literati, and converts. 52 In Western scholarship, Gianni Criveller devotes a whole chapter of his research on the presentation of Christ in late Ming Jesuits’ writings to explain in detail how the important theme of “accommodation in action” is vividly shown in Kouduo richao. He considers it “a gold mine of information about the Jesuit missionary method and the Chinese reaction.”53 In his introduction, Criveller examines the question-and-answer pattern in parallel with the master–disciple type of Confucian learning. While assigning a secondary role to Western science and technology, he identifies two major categories of religious subjects in Kouduo richao: theological, psychological questions and practical issues. However, Criveller only translates a small number of passages on Christological themes, so his analysis seems to be too partial to present an in-depth case study.54 In the past ten years, studies on Kouduo richao had a rapid growth in terms of scale and number. Among the published monographs, Zürcher’s monumental work (2007) deserves special attention. It not only presents a full translation of Kouduo richao with detailed annotations, but its lengthy introduction also provides the best systematic analysis of Kouduo richao in Western scholarship. Ac51

Zürcher 1997b, pp. 595-616.

52

Cf. note 50.

53

Criveller 1997, p. 301.

54

Ibid., pp. 301-352.

20

INTRODUCTION

tually, Zürcher became interested in this unique late Ming text back in the 1980s, and he has made numerous relevant studies over the years.55 This is why his introduction is very substantial at both factual and theoretical levels. After discussing the key aspects of the text (e.g., nature, composition, temporal and spatial coverage, types of entries, and intended readership), he presents a panoramic picture of the Fujian mission, including three types of actors (missionaries, converts, and outsiders), detailed analysis of doctrinal topics and communal rituals, and concrete summaries on broader social aspects and the strategic role of Western Studies in Kouduo richao. With his systematic introduction, Zürcher convinces us of its unique value as “the only extant first-hand account of the practice of religious life and of missionary activity in a specific social milieu (the lower fringe of the literati-elite), as recorded by the Chinese converts.”56 Aside from its encyclopedic character, Zürcher’s work serves as a showcase of his earlier theoretical insights and methodologies. At the beginning of the introduction, he writes: Among the dozens of texts by late Ming and early Qing converts it [=Kouduo richao] stands out as the only source that allows us a glimpse of Jesuit missionary practice – “accommodation in action” – and of the various responses of their Chinese audience, both converts and interested outsiders. It also shows us the working of the underlying processes of selection, adaptation and integration by which, in the milieu of local Confucian elites, the foreign creed was transformed into a marginal Chinese minority religion.57

This concise statement starts with Zürcher’s key concern on the writings by Chinese converts. It reaffirms his China-centered approach developed in previous studies. Not only are “the Chinese cultural environment and the Chinese reaction” given full attention, as he had remarked a decade before, but Kouduo richao is read in the sense that it depicts Christianity as “a living religion” in late Ming Fujian.58 In other words, the more important aspect should be missionary activities and Chinese responses in daily life, rather than a foreign system of beliefs and values through prescriptive or apologetic texts. The next concern of 55

In addition to the article “Aleni in Fujian, 1630–1640,” Zürcher’s other studies on Kouduo richao include, for example, “Giulio Aleni et ses relations avec le milieu des lettrés chinois au XVIIe siècle,” in: Venezia e l’Oriente, ed. Lionello Lanciotti (Firenze: Leo S. Olschki, 1987), pp. 107-306; “The Jesuit Mission in Fujian in Late Ming Times: Levels of Response,” in: Development and Decline of Fukien Province in the 17th and 18th Centuries, ed. E.B. Vermeer (Leiden: Brill, 1990), pp. 417-458; “Jesuit Accommodation and the Chinese Cultural Imperative,” in: The Chinese Rites Controversy: Its History and Meaning, ed. D.E. Mungello (Nettetal: Steyler Verlag, 1994), pp. 31-64; “Confucian and Christian Religiosity in Late Ming China,” The Catholic Historical Review 83 (1997) 4, pp. 614-653; “‘In the Beginning’: Seventeenth-Century Chinese Reactions to Christian Creationism” in: Time and Space in Chinese Culture, ed. Huang Chun-chieh and Erik Zürcher, Sinica Leidensia 22 (Leiden: Brill, 1995), pp. 132-166.

56

KDRC, vol. 1, p. 12.

57

Ibid., p. 7.

58

Zürcher 1997c, p. 650.

INTRODUCTION

21

Zürcher lies in the local approach that has been discussed above. By focusing on “local Confucian elites,” such as school instructors and candidates of the civil service examinations, he designs the book as a study on a distinct social class in a specific region during a specific time. Lastly, the transformation of Christianity into “a marginal Chinese minority religion” is also based upon Zürcher’s previous research. To him, Christianity like other religions of foreign origin in China (Judaism, Islam, and early Buddhism) belongs to a marginal phenomenon. Unless it conforms to the Chinese “cultural imperative,” i.e., the central ideology of Confucianism, this Western religion cannot expect to take root in China.59 Despite many highly positive comments on Kouduo richao, Zürcher still has reservations about certain limitations in the work. For one thing, he is keen enough to point out the prevalent dialogue form among most of its entries, but the form itself looks unsatisfactory as “a mosaic of bits of conversation ‘about everything’ presented in chronological order.” This will lead to a twofold result – “a mere fraction of the words spoken” because of the compilers’ selective interests, and “a vague impression of the oral communication” due to the transcription from verbal homilies in vernacular Chinese to written notes in literary Chinese.60 Hence, Zürcher holds the view that Kouduo richao is but a shattered mirror of Aleni’s work in Fujian. What he does not recognize, however, is that such a work “about everything” indicates the essential mechanisms of dialogue – openness and flexibility – that allows a greater capacity to include people from different social status and cultural backgrounds, whether Chinese or foreigners, converts or non-converts, elite or lower-class, officials or commoners. Bearing this in mind, we may not be surprised to see that Aleni’s missionary work expanded from the elite to lower-class people in the 1630s. In Pan Feng-chuan’s work (2002), Kouduo richao is also used as a key historical source for Aleni’s Fujian mission and the formation of a network among lower-level literati converts in the 1630s. But Pan’s later discussions on such subjects as God/Heaven, human nature, and moral relations do not put much weight on the actual dialogues recorded in Kouduo richao. In fact, the term “dialogue” in her analysis refers to a symbolic representation of the late Ming case, by which she develops a theoretical model for the two-way, dynamic hermeneutic cycle between Christianity (West) and Confucianism (China). It is therefore called “a transforming religious encounter” in light of the sociological concept of glocalization, i.e., a process of local (Chinese) adjustments and adaptations to a global religion (Christianity).61 In addition to the above-mentioned two books, some more recent articles on Kouduo richao are worthy of note. Zhang Xianqing, for example, takes exemplary cases from Kouduo richao to examine Aleni’s flexible attitudes towards Chinese folk beliefs in late Ming Fujian. For those fundamentally contradictory 59

Zürcher 1994, pp. 31-64.

60

KDRC, vol. 1, p. 12.

61

Pan Feng-chuan 2002, 25-34; 331-334.

22

INTRODUCTION

to the Christian doctrine, including geomancy, selection of auspicious dates, and the worship of City Gods, Lord Guan, and Lord Wenchang, he expressed vehement criticisms and forbade the converts to believe in these heresies and idols. In contrast, Aleni carefully tolerated the long-established Chinese tradition of ancestral worship as a civil act to show one’s filial respect to ancestors and to maintain the harmony in a family or a lineage. This adaptation does not necessarily result in a full acceptance, though. Aleni would still object to superstitious customs such as burning paper money or figurines and lifting paper mourning banners, which were mingled with Buddhist and Daoist funeral services. By framing the debates in a cultural confrontation of Catholic theology and Chinese folk beliefs, Zhang aims to reveal a subtle and more complex strategy adopted by Aleni in his Fujian mission. The strategy echoed the endeavors of some late Ming Confucians to recover the ancient rituals and remove the heretical Buddhist and Daoist practices. It further exerted a great impact in the early Qing period, when the Jesuits and Chinese converts got involved in heated debates with the Dominicans and Franciscans on the Chinese Rites Controversy.62 Another article, written by Xiao Qinghe, deals with the two group networks – Christian and Confucian – in which Li Jiubiao lived. The former group network includes converts from different places in Fujian (except two from Hangzhou) who served as collaborative authors of Kouduo richao, while the latter Confucian network consists of literati friends, disciples, and relatives of Li Jiubiao who edited the work Zhenshu. Though these two networks did not require the same obligations from Li, the in-between situation naturally resulted in his double Confucian-Christian identity. Xiao’s research explicitly adopts a sociological method to look at the formation of Chinese Christian groups, and he concludes that these groups facilitated a further localization of the foreign Christian religion in late Ming Fujian.63 It is worth mentioning that a few theses and dissertations by Chinese postgraduates have also used Kouduo richao as a key source. Chen Limei in her thesis presents a detailed textual thematic analysis of the content of Kouduo richao and its adaptation in a later analectic work edited by Li Jiugong and Li Sixuan 李 嗣玄 (?–1661), a convert from Sui’an 綏安. Chen concludes that the notable adjustments seen in the latter work reflect an indigenization process in which Aleni’s words have been digested by the converts in the Chinese context, thus proving the correlation of local Christian developments between late Ming and early Qing periods.64 Another scholar, Luo Qun, in her dissertation takes an approach from communication studies to explore Aleni’s Fujian mission, with an emphasis on such key terms as giver (Aleni), recipient (middle and lower level literati converts), information (Catholic doctrines), media (preaching and rhetoric), and result (Aleni’s identity and impacts). The underlying structure of this 62

Zhang Xianqing 2002, pp. 123-136.

63

Xiao Qinghe 2008b, pp. 167-203.

64

Chen Limei 2004, pp. 101-123; 151-159.

INTRODUCTION

23

study is based on what Standaert has proposed for an interaction and communication framework. Moreover, Luo is of the opinion that Aleni’s Fujian mission signaled a change of the Jesuits’ strategy from the upper class to the middle-lower classes, from the imperial court to the provinces, and from an intellectual approach to a pastoral approach. Her arguments echo the common view already expressed by Zürcher, Dudink, Criveller, Pan Feng-chuan, and other scholars.65 Another interesting dissertation is written by Xiao Qinghe, who employs this unique text to discuss the emerging Christian communities in the late Ming and early Qing context. Though the chapter largely overlaps with what Xiao has argued in his article, it presents a more thorough evidential research on the main actors (Christian and non-Christian converts) who contributed to the formation of two social networks in late Ming and early Qing Fujian. Besides the case studies on Kouduo richao and Xu Kouduo richao, Xiao also looks into a variety of other Chinese texts in order to recover a “general image” of the Christian community in Ming–Qing China. This “community” was not only a major force to protect Christianity from attacks launched by the anti-Christian community, but it also served as an important conductor for the localization of Christianity in late imperial China. By adopting such terms as social network, social capital, and religious market from sociology of religion, Xiao’s dissertation offers us an alternative approach to investigate the formation and transformation of the Christian community along with its interactions with late imperial Chinese society.66 With many insightful arguments and valuable findings, the above recent studies enable us to develop a more substantial understanding of the text (Kouduo richao), the actors (the Jesuits and Chinese converts), and the scene (the Fujian and China mission). From them, we can recognize a number of different approaches that may be summarized as follows: * Biographical/evidential approach: Dudink, Pan Feng-chuan; * Missiological approach: Lin Jinshui * Theological/Christological approach: Criveller * Rhetorical approach: Zürcher * Sociological/anthropological approach: Lin Jinshui, Zhang Xianqing, Xiao Qinghe * Interdisciplinary approach: Zürcher, Luo Qun However, among these approaches we find no systematic attempt to explore the master–disciple type of dialogue, which is predominantly presented throughout Kouduo richao. Nor can we find any substantial effort to compare Kouduo richao with other dialogic texts of the same time. As a result, we miss the popular dialogue genre in the overall picture of late Ming Christian literature. Two fundamental questions should be addressed in this respect: First, why did the Jesuits 65

Luo’s dissertation (“Ai Rulüe yu Kouduo richao yanjiu” 艾儒略與《口鐸日抄》研究 (Study on Jiulio [sic] Aleni and Kouduo richao), Ph.D. diss., Zhejiang University, 2009) has been revised and published in 2012 with a new title. See Luo Qun 2012, pp. 11-29.

66

Xiao Qinghe 2009, pp. 20-136.

24

INTRODUCTION

and Chinese converts frequently use the dialogue form in their writings? Second, in what ways did those Christian dialogic texts, including Kouduo richao, contribute to the formation of a hybrid Christian–Confucian identify in the late Ming Sino–Western encounter? We cannot find answers to these questions without examining the representative dialogic texts written by the Jesuits and Chinese converts. Moreover, only with an in-depth study on the internal mechanisms of dialogue can we understand why Kouduo richao featured a symbolic self–other relation between the Jesuits and Chinese converts, why the title xiansheng 先生 (master) took the place of duode 鐸德 or siduo 司鐸 (Sacerdote), how religious and cultural elements from the West were strategically mingled with those from China, and how Chinese converts empowered themselves by assuming a new inbetween identity. Of course Kouduo richao was a chronological record of the expanding Fujian mission in the 1630s, but at the same time it offered a vivid description of how Aleni and his convert disciples strived for a sharable intellectual, spiritual, moral, and ritualistic life through dialogic exchanges. I would thus adopt an alternative approach – dialogic hybridization – to examine Kouduo richao as an exemplary case along with other late Ming Christian dialogic works and further explore the projection from dialogue as a literary medium to dialogue as a process of cross-cultural exchanges.

Dialogic Hybridization: An Alternative Approach After the extensive survey of general methodologies and specific case studies, it appears that none of them can offer a comprehensive theoretical and analytical treatment of the paradoxical relations of the self–other complex in late Ming Christian dialogic texts. As we can see in Kouduo richao, Aleni and Fujian converts face such a paradox in their daily conversations. For Aleni, his identity as a Catholic priest (self ) complies with the Chinese “cultural imperative” of Confucian orthodoxy (other). However, since the monotheist Catholic belief does not allow a total acceptance of this other, Aleni maintains a selective attitude toward Confucian concepts and rituals, e.g., affirming the ancestral food offerings but prohibiting the burning of paper money. The same essentialist Christian self also urges him to reject Buddhism and Daoism as two heretical others. For Fujian converts, the self–other paradox is equally challenging. They find themselves often in a dilemma between being a Confucian (self ) and a Christian (other), or between being a believer in God (self ) and an idol worshipper (other). Apparently, Aleni and the converts hoped to work out a practical solution for this paradoxical identity puzzle. To them, dialogue became the most effective medium among others for them to simulate in real life the self–other relation, negotiate the limits of the self and the other, make adjustments and adaptations, and finally justify a new identity in between Christianity and Confucianism. Based on these critical observations, I would bring forth the new approach of dialogic hybridization, which incorporates rather than excludes the findings and arguments in previous studies. The interpersonal and intercultural exchanges seen in Kouduo richao and other late Ming Christian dialogic works, I would argue, contributed

INTRODUCTION

25

in different ways to the formation of a hybrid Christian–Confucian identify structured by the paradoxical self–other relation. As the self–other relation lies at the core of late Ming Christian dialogism, it is necessary to begin with the following questions: How should we define the dialogic relation? What are the essential characteristics of the dialogic relation? In what sense can the dialogic relation be applied to a cross-cultural case, for example, the late Ming Sino–Western encounter? First of all, the dialogic self–other relation can be seen as an aspect of the embedded nature of human existence. It conditions one’s experience of the other(s) with openness, directness, and mutuality. Ancient thinkers, including Confucius in China and Plato in Greece, often adopted a dialogic structure in search for moral or spiritual truths for human society. Historians and poets also engage in a relation with the other(s) in history, nature, and the human world as well. It is thus an “I and Thou” relation, to borrow the term of Martin Buber (1878–1965) who proposed in his famous work of the same title: “All real living is meeting.”67 Buber’s “meeting” is to be understood in its broadest sense. It may take place between man and man, between man and nature, and between past and present. As a religious thinker, Buber also emphasized man’s “meeting” with God by putting aside everything else and moving into a personal dialogue with him. He further revealed a threefold dialogic relation, first, his relation to the world and to things, second, his relation to men – both to individuals and to the many – third, his relation to the mystery of being – which is dimly apparent through all this but infinitely transcends it – which the philosopher calls the Absolute and the believer calls God, and which cannot in fact be eliminated from the situation even by a man who rejects both designations.68

In fact, Buber’s statement is more of a summary of universal human experiences than of his personal invention. In traditional Chinese culture, we can also identify many similar ideas. Confucius, for example, in answering his disciple’s question said that humanity (ren 仁) was to love men. He referred to a ruler’s benevolence in treating his subjects, but the same idea may be applied to all five moral relations within a society: ruler to subject, father to son, husband to wife, elder brother to younger brother, as well as friend to friend.69 Laozi 老子 (fl. 6th c. B.C.E.), the founder of Daoism, criticized the Confucian moral standards and argued that these artificial ideas have led people away from the original Dao 道, or the Way. He proposed another type of dialogic relation – harmony between man and nature – which exerted a great influence on traditional Chinese literature and arts. Despite their different philosophies, both thinkers recognized the fundamental reality of human existence conditioned by a dialogic relation.

67

Buber 1958, p. 11.

68

Buber 1965, p. 177.

69

Waley 1989, p. 169.

26

INTRODUCTION

The dialogic relation not only exists between man and man, between man and nature, or between the human world and the supernatural world, but it can also be perceived between cultures. The impressive number of Christian dialogic writings in the late Ming Sino–Western encounter suggests that the Jesuit missionaries and Chinese Confucians got involved in a dialogic relation on a cross-cultural level, in which dialogue became a convenient and effective medium for them to represent the self in exchange with the other. Though we can find many different types of dialogic relations, they share a few essential characteristics. First, the dialogic relation is often accompanied by a certain creative understanding between the self and the other. This aspect offers us a key for explaining the dialogic hybridization approach. According to Mikhail Bakhtin (1895–1975), one’s self-consciousness is conditioned by and can only be realized through a communicative exchange with the other. However, it would be wrong to assume that one will totally abandon the self and embrace the other on its own terms, because one’s understanding of the other is creative rather than duplicative. One can remain distinct from the other by reassuming one’s selfidentity from time to time.70 Creativity thus plays a central role in Bakhtin’s literary theory on the dialogic principle, which may also be applied to cases in crosscultural studies. In the late Ming Sino–Western encounter, we come across numerous examples for a certain creative understanding between the Jesuits and Chinese converts, such as the use of the term Great Father–Mother for God and the representation of the Virgin Mary with the appearance of Guanyin. These examples of cultural appropriation or hybridization are indeed anything but “duplicative.” In a dialogic relation, creativity often parallels with the finitude of human experience, which is embodied in one’s incomplete understanding or misunderstanding of the other person/culture. Zhuangzi 莊子 (ca. 369–286 B.C.E.), another important figure in early Daoism, offers us a vivid example in this respect: Chuang Tzu [i.e., Zhuangzi] and Hui Tzu [i.e., Huizi] were strolling along the dam of the Hao River when Chuang Tzu said, “See how the minnows come out and dart around where they please! That’s what fish really enjoy!” Hui Tzu said, “You’re not fish – how do you know what fish enjoy?” Chuang Tzu said, “You’re not I, so how do you know I don’t know what fish enjoy?” Hui Tzu said, “I’m not you, so I certainly don’t know what you know. On the other hand, you’re certainly not a fish – so that still proves you don’t know what fish enjoy!” Chuang Tzu said, “Let’s go back to your original question, please. You asked me how I know what fish enjoy – so you already knew I knew it when you asked the question. I know it by standing here beside the Hao.”71

The outcome of this argument resembles sophistry. When Zhuangzi talks of fish, he does not mean that he knows exactly what fish enjoys. He rather intends to point out the potential of unity between man and nature. Huizi rejects this point 70

Todorov 1984, pp. 94-112.

71

Watson 1996, p. 110.

INTRODUCTION

27

from a cognitive perspective, but his argument sounds self-contradictory. While claiming that Zhuangzi (self ) has no absolute knowledge of fish (other), he would assume that he (self ) has absolute knowledge of Zhuangzi (other). The rebuttal of Zhuangzi clearly neutralizes Huizi’s reasoning of one’s absolute knowledge in understanding or judging the other(s). If it is impossible to obtain absolute knowledge of the other, the incomplete knowledge naturally opens up space for new meanings by way of the self ’s creative understanding. Ricci’s early mission in China is a good example in this regard. With a misunderstanding of the status of Buddhism in late Ming society, he shaved his head and beard and wore a Buddhist gown. To the surprise of those monks in the Nanhua 南華 Temple at Shaozhou 韶州, this Western “monk” would not bow to the statue of Huineng 惠能, the Sixth Patriarch in Chan Buddhism. Nor would he participate in other Buddhist ceremonies.72 Ricci explained that he belonged to another Buddhist sect of different doctrines. Though he later totally denied this new identity and changed to a Confucian appearance, Ricci still created a new meaning to the stereotyped Buddhist identity. This may be called a superposition of horizons, by which something new is mixed with the old. In this sense, the finitude of human experience functions as a key factor for interpersonal or intercultural understanding. The point is not whether one misunderstands the other, but how one understands the other in a different way, often by way of a new understanding or an understanding in between. We will find many examples in Kouduo richao that Aleni’s “misunderstanding” of some established Confucian concepts, such as human nature and filial piety, obviously generated layers of meanings in between Confucianism and Christianity. A hybrid concept took shape by crossing the existing boundaries and drawing elements from both sides, but the result pointed to a new horizon that did not belong to either of them. The above discussion on the dialogic self–other relation provides a theoretical summary of the “dialogic hybridization” approach. As a matter of fact, this approach draws inspiration from recent theories centring on such concepts as “interaction,” “contact,” “encounter,” and “dialogue.” According to Standaert, in the history of contacts between cultures, “the identity of the self is not only formed through the isolated effort of the self but in the encounter with the other.”73 Specifically speaking, the history of Christianity in China is often considered a unique type of cultural contact. The main reason for its uniqueness lies in the fact that it took place between equals. “China and Europe were both societies that were culturally, economically, institutionally, intellectually, and materially highly developed. They were able to communicate at a level that, at least from the European perspective, was very different from encounters in other countries at that time.”74 Undoubtedly, the equal status between the self and the 72

For Ricci’s letter to Alessandro Valignano, “September. 9, 1589,” see Luo Yu 1986, vol. 1, pp. 93-95.

73

Standaert 2002, p. 28.

74

Standaert 1997, p. 602.

28

INTRODUCTION

other enabled a more dynamic interaction, both in breadth and in depth, than other encounters in history. The result would be a broad range of conflicts and convergences between China and Europe, often summarized in terms such as accommodation, acculturation, inculturation, assimilation, adaptation, acceptance, rejection, negotiation, and appropriation. Underlined by the dialogic relation between equals, the interaction approach intends to present a macroscopic picture with multi-dimensional perspectives. It thus goes beyond the impact-response models adopted in previous studies. For example, by using such key terms as alterity and otherness, Standaert tries to promote a new “interaction and communication” framework: What kind of interaction was established? What kind of communication took place? The search is no longer a search for the other as such, but a search for interaction between the self and the other and for the result of communication that was established between them. Therefore, one of the main questions historians raise in their research is: to what extent did the transmitter and receiver create something new through their mutual exchange (a question in which Westerner and Chinese can be both transmitter and receiver)? To what extent did they construct a new reality using the knowledge offered by the other.75?

One of the primary concerns of this framework centres on a process of self–other negotiation in between the two extremes of “total absorption” and “total rejection”, which can result in a variety of possibilities including “mixture (mélange), syncretism, hybridization, métissage, fusion, amalgamation, etc.”76 Wang Xiaochao, who also advocates the scheme of interaction, proposes five main points for what he calls a “cultural interaction and transformation” theory: 1. transcultural transmissions are two-way rather than one-way; 2. cultural conflicts and confrontations are inevitable, but they do not predict incompatibility between cultures; 3. a fusion between cultures may be possible, but any kind of annexation by eliminating all differences is impossible; 4. a fusion does not necessarily result in the demise of a culture, but instead it may stimulate its transformations; 5. adaptation and inculturation are effective ways for a cultural fusion.77 Clearly, both Standaert and Wang show their particular emphasis on a process that equally involves actors from both sides in the encounter between China and the West. These arguments may to a certain extent sound schematic or programmatic, but they do summarize some of the most prominent issues in recent scholarship. The new “dialogic hybridization” approach shares several similarities with the above-mentioned “interaction” theories, but it focuses on the dialogic relation, in which the self and the other can engage in a process of dynamic exchanges and negotiations. It also aims at a more comprehensive vision in our understanding of the historical Jesuit–Confucian encounter in late imperial China. Nonetheless, if compared with those major methodologies and theories discussed above, this new 75

Standaert 2002, pp. 39-40.

76

Standaert 2002, p. 28.

77

Wang Xiaochao 2000, pp. 311-315.

INTRODUCTION

29

approach bears two distinctive features. First, the theoretical scheme is derived from a substantial and systematic treatment of the dialogue-form texts written by the Jesuits and Chinese converts in late Ming China. These dialogic texts, many of which have not been critically examined, are particularly attractive for their diversity in both stylistic and thematic aspects. Not only do they take up a large portion among the hundreds of 17th-century Chinese Christian texts, but they also serve more directly than other types of Christian texts as a virtual embodiment of the late Ming cross-cultural contact. The “dialogic” or “interactive” encounter in this sense is no longer a historical reconstruction of modern scholars, but it is rather a reality deeply embedded in the actual interpersonal and intercultural experiences of the Jesuits and Chinese people, whether they were converts, sympathizers, or non-Christians. Second, the approach of “dialogic hybridization” depicts a more balanced picture of the actors (Jesuits and Chinese as equals), the means (dialogic pattern), the process (mutual action and reaction), and the result (in-between or hybrid cultural identity). The word “hybridization” is especially indicative of exposing the insufficiency of the more or less descriptive terms “cultural encounter,” “localization,” or “interaction and communication.” Of course, Christianity encountered and interacted with Confucianism (or Chinese culture in general) in history, and it has gradually become a localized, though still marginal, Chinese religion in a sense comparable to the case of Buddhism centuries ago. But if one is to predict the result as “Chinese Christianity” rather than “Christianity in China,” one will realize that it is in essence both Chinese and Christian, or a hybrid in between the two. By looking into Kouduo richao and other late Ming Christian dialogic texts, I will make a thorough investigation on the important role of Christian dialogism in the late Ming intercultural encounter. A series of key issues will be discussed in the following chapters. They include: How can dialogue, defined as a literary genre and a medium of thought, structure a dialogic relation? How did Kouduo richao adopt Western and Chinese dialogue traditions through the exchange of diverse voices between the Jesuits and Confucian converts? To what extent was this unique text connected with or different from other late Ming Christian dialogues? How did some types of spiritual, moral, or solid knowledge become the target of superposition, but other types did not? What special devices were used to facilitate the formation of hybrid ideas and practices? Was there a multifaceted image of the Christian other created by Aleni and the converts? Finally, if the dialogic writings were to introduce a non-Chinese religion, how did they enable Chinese converts to form a new hybrid religious and cultural identity in late Ming transitional society? The deeper we look into these Christian dialogic texts, the more answers we can find from their cross-cultural encounter. The following chapters of this book will show a complicated, many-sided process from dialogue to dialogic hybridization.

CHAPTER ONE

From Literary Dialogue to Cultural Dialogism 1.1. A Generic Exploration of Dialogue At the beginning of the collection Kouduo richao, the chief editor Li Jiubiao gives a brief summary of his approach to recording the admonitions of Aleni and other Jesuit masters in Fujian. He writes in the statement of editorial principles, “This collection started in the spring of 1630. The entries in successive years have all been provided with dates; in doing so, I have presumed to follow the model of the historical chronicles (biannian jishi 編年紀事).” 1 Clearly, Li is referring to the long tradition of historical writings in China, often embedded with Confucian ideology and moral judgments. If we read through Kouduo richao, all conversations start with a certain day in a certain month, preceded by the year of the reign of Emperor Chongzhen 崇禎 (Zhu Youjian 朱由檢, 1611– 1644) and the season of the month, at a certain place. In other words, Li consciously applies a key element in historical narratives to a compilation which primarily consists of “motionless” conversations. Consequently, Kouduo richao shows an unusual chronological organization different from dialogue-based Confucian writings in the past but also from the majority of other Christian dialogic works produced in the late Ming period. Li’s intentional adoption of the chronicle style deserves special attention. We may ask two questions: What could possibly be the main purpose behind this form? Was Li aware of the subtle relation between the oral (actual dialogue) and the written (reported dialogue)? A quick answer to the first question may be that the chronicle pattern can help create a realistic setting for conversational “events” to take place. The subtlety between the oral and the written can also be seen in Li’s well thought-out title: kouduo 口鐸 (oral admonition) vis-à-vis richao 日抄 (daily transcript). The former points at the actual conversations between the Jesuit masters and the convert disciples, yet the latter suggests that a reader can only “hear” their conversations again through this written text. In other words, the work is to be read as a chronological record of communicative events. Li’s treatment naturally gives rise to a remarkable hybrid style that combines analectic, chronological, and narrative components. On the other hand, Kouduo richao is still connected in one way or another with many other late Ming Christian texts composed in the dialogue form. It follows the common format of questions and answers. It exhibits the diverse and changing voices of Aleni, his confreres, literati converts, and non-Christians in varied places in Fujian. The oral admonitions of Aleni are heard by his convert disciples (and “overheard” by the readers) in the work, but he does not speak in 1

“Fanli,” KDRC, vol. 1, pp. 25, 188. The word jishi 紀事, missing in Zürcher’s translation, is added here.

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CHAPTER ONE

the voice of a dominant authority as was typical for those monologue-type kouduo texts during the early Qing period. Moreover, though the voice of a person is supposed to be expressed in accordance with that person’s social, professional, and regional identity, it would be naïve to presume that one cannot present a voice other than the original voice. As a matter of fact, Aleni and the converts in their dialogic exchanges often shift between different voices for different purposes. Hence, Kouduo richao may be defined as a “reflexive” dialogue which offers much communal space and time for all participating actors.2 Mainly due to such a unique feature, the work became an exemplary piece in late Ming Christian dialogue literature. The importance of the popular dialogue form among late Ming Christian texts has not been critically analyzed in previous scholarship. Most scholars in this field have mainly paid attention to dialogue as a medium of thought. The contents of those dialogic texts thus became the primary concern for them to develop different theoretical frameworks. However, the formal function of dialogue, especially its mechanism in constructing the paradoxical self–other relation within the late Ming intercultural context, has slipped through in-depth research. This chapter gives full attention to the previously neglected role of dialogue in late Ming Christian literature. After a generic analysis of the essential features of dialogue, I will look into the traditions of dialogue both in China and Europe and explain why there appeared a noticeable convergence of the two traditions in the late Ming. A group of early Christian dialogic works from that period, written by both the Jesuits and Chinese converts, will be analyzed. Not only did they provide a favorable environment for the compilation of Kouduo richao, but they also contributed to a unique flowering of Sino-European dialogues in the 17th century. 1.1.1. Dialogue as a Hybrid Literary Genre?

In generic analysis dialogue often creates difficulty. It is not considered an independent “genre,” for it “tends to blur, and bridge, the modern distinctions between fiction and non-fiction, orality and literacy, or poetry, prose, and drama.” Dialogue in this sense may be called a “fundamentally hybrid genre,” which “spans not only what modernity has described as ‘literature’ and ‘philosophy’, but also rhetoric, ethics, social history, and pedagogy.” 3 Such a hybrid nature makes it difficult to put dialogue into any clearly defined literary genre. As a result, many critics prefer descriptive characterizations of dialogue. Bakhtin, for example, developed in the 1920s the concept dialogism based upon the fundamental difference between the novel and poetry. In his Discourse in the Novel, he claims that the novel is dialogic in nature when compared to the monological unity and singular language of poetry. 4 This characterization leads to another 2

The three generic types are represented by dialogue, confession, and treatise respectively. See Rockwell 2003, pp. 197-201.

3

Heitsch – Vallée 2004, “Foreword,” pp. x-xi.

4

Holquist 1981, pp. 275-300.

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Bakhtinian concept, heteroglossia, meaning the diversity of social voices interplaying with each other through different speeches or utterances in a novel. 5 Though the two terms have little to do with the dialogue genre itself, they reveal an epistemological mode of human existence. In the past few decades, there has been an increasing interest in dialogue that goes beyond literary concerns. It is partly because we realize that we live in a globalizing world, where any thought, speech, or activity is more likely than before found in a communicative situation. The term “dialogue” can be applied to a variety of personal or cultural exchanges. Understandably, it is safe to say that dialogue “has gone from a minor literary form, representing a type of intellectual activity, to being a defining human activity.”6 The medium for dialogue can be spoken or unspoken. The exchange can be both individual and collective. Moreover, especially in fields such as literature, religious studies, and philosophy, scholars have found that dialogue indeed played an important role in the history of human civilization. As far as literary criticism is concerned, the culture of dialogue in Renaissance Europe has attracted much attention in recent scholarship. An impressive number of dialogic works in the 16th century have been singled out and studied.7 Not only did critics carefully make distinctions of national characteristics of dialogue, but they also identified various social-historical factors that might have affected the evolvement of this genre.8 Theories on dialogue emerging in this period also received particular attention.9 Consequently, dialogue has been shown to be one of the most popular genres in Renaissance Europe, representing various aspects of public and private life. Generally speaking, the major function of a dialogue is to represent an ongoing exchange of views between interlocutors speaking a variety of social, professional, and regional languages. In this respect it can be defined as “a unity of diverse voices.”10 In most cases, the diverse voices are exchanged in a casual, flexible manner, to the extent that informality becomes the first generic characteristic of a dialogue. It is clearly present throughout the Kouduo richao, in which Aleni and his convert disciples engage in impromptu conversations anywhere and 5

Holquist 1981, pp. 301-331.

6

Rockwell 2003, p. 10.

7

Heitsch – Vallée 2004, “Foreword,” pp. ix-x.

8

For example, Virginia Cox argues that Italian Cinquecento dialogues followed Ciceronian documentary tradition, while dialogues in other European countries were characterized by Lucianic fictional tradition. She further traced reasons, such as the advent of print and Counter-Reformation, for the genre’s decline towards the end of the century. See Cox 1992, pp. 22-46, 61-113.

9

Jon R. Snyder analyzes how four late sixteenth-century critics – Sigonio, Speroni, Tasso, and Castelvetro – conceptualized dialogue as “the art of questioning, doubting, and exploring the lateral paths and possibilities of thought.” See Snyder 1989, p. 213. His conclusion echoes Cox’ depiction on how dialogue shifted from an open conversation to a closed book, slanting more to dialectic and monologic quality.

10

Rockwell 2003, p. 169.

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anytime. In his preface, Lin Yijun indicates that Master Ai’s instructions are mainly short conversations, not lengthy lectures or sermons.11 The informal style is also appreciated by Li Jiubiao, who says that the instructions of Aleni are “not as detailed as are books that consist of a sequence of chapters and sections, but they all are as marvelous as fragments of jade and gold.”12 This distinct feature, as I will discuss later, serves as an integral part in both Chinese and European dialogue traditions. Another noteworthy generic element of dialogue should be its potential to use a limited number of formal configurations to accommodate a broad range of subjects. On the one hand, unlike a treatise or a narrative, the interlocutors involved in a dialogue can switch subjects freely with little concern of thematic coherence. For example, at the beginning of Kouduo richao, in a conversation among Aleni, Liu Liangbi 劉良弼, and Li Jiubiao, four unrelated topics are discussed. First, Aleni argues that a true friend can help one face one’s own faults. He then gives a mild criticism of Liu’s improper way to adore a book without reading it. When Li joins in the conversation and asks about the reliability of God’s blessing, Aleni answers with a story from the Bible on Jesus rescuing Peter from falling into the Galilee Sea.13 Finally, after hearing that Lin Yijun lost a son recently, Aleni comforts him by telling another story on Job and suggests that Lin follow Job’s example.14 On the other hand, literary embellishment is seldom seen as the top priority in a dialogue. Li Jiubiao ends his preface by saying, “As regards literary style I have just opted for clarity and perspicuity, and I have not cared about the artistic quality of the text.”15 It is likely that Li wants to be modest in this case, but he certainly sees his work differently from those stylish compositions of belles lettres. The two characteristics – episodic structure and less emphasis on literary style – not only set dialogue apart from other literary genres, but they also increase the difficulty for critics to offer a clear definition of the form. However, its formal “deficiencies” inform us that dialogue is not supposed to present a complex plot or systematic thinking. It tends to thrive on the diversity of voices that may head toward anywhere but a clear resolution. Though the above characteristics provide dynamic variables of a dialogue, as seen in Kouduo richao, one still can grasp a hidden unity through several constant factors. From a critical standpoint, any completed dialogue, whether realistic or constructed, takes place in a certain context so that the dialogists can engage in a chain of conversations. It explains why dialogue is defined as “an act of communication.”16 In this sense, Li Jiubiao’s use of the annalistic style not only 11

KDRC, vol. 1, p. 16.

12

Ibid., pp. 25, 188.

13

Mt 15:22-33.

14

KDRC, vol. 1, pp. 38-40.

15

Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 23, 187.

16

Cox 1992, “Preface,” p. xi.

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stresses the authenticity of his record, but it may also be intended to set up an explicit, multilayered context. When reading Kouduo richao, the readers can tell that conversations happen between a teacher par excellence (master) and an inferior student (disciple), between a non-Chinese and a Chinese, and between a Christian and a non-Christian. The same contextual awareness can be seen in most other late Ming Christian dialogic texts. Li’s conscious effort to make its context formally visible is very striking. To set up the real context, of course, increases the readability of a dialogic work like Kouduo richao. The dialogic context leads us to a second unifying factor: theme. Since it is multilayered, the context can often be structured according to the ways different themes are arranged and how they travel through the dialogic space with the changing voices of interlocutors. In Kouduo richao, for example, Aleni and Li Jiubiao exchange views on calendar. The theme is carried out within both an explicit context and an implicit one. The former compares the Chinese lunar calendar to the European solar calendar, while the latter reveals a certain ideological subtlety, as the discussion between Aleni and Li may be related to the calendar reform led by Xu Guangqi and Pro-Christian officials in the Ming court.17 This theme and other scientific, moral, spiritual, and ritualistic themes in Kouduo richao, interconnect with each other and form a thematic unity, namely, the Jesuits’ Tianxue. Hence, dialogue does not concern only content; as an act of communication, dialogue carries a special structural mechanism by which a theme can hold together many different voices. As the chief compiler, Li Jiubiao was aware of the distinction between a real dialogue and a constructed dialogue. In Kouduo richao, he employs various literary devices to present a faithful transcript of the original conversations. It seems to be a wise choice for him to adopt the annalistic form, which narrates an event inside a specific “time-space” framework, or in Bakhtin’s words, a chronotope.18 Each conversation starts with a certain date and a brief description on where (and sometimes how) it takes place. Li consciously makes efforts to align the collection of notes into a full work of historical writing for a wider readership. The structure in terms of real time and space is unique among other Christian dialogic works from the late Ming period. The temporal and spatial relations are nicely interwoven in Kouduo richao. On the one hand, Aleni’s instructions often take place outside of the church, e.g., during a visit to a convert’s house and at a banquet gathering of local gentry. These locations blur the line between public and private spheres, based on which modern scholars tend to categorize ancient European dialogues in terms of the

17

See Chapter 3.1.2.

18

Holquist 1981, pp. 84-85. I use the word chronotope in a general sense, not in a strict literary sense as Bakhtin has defined. Though Kouduo richao contains some narrative components that resemble a novel, I do not think they match the models that Bakhtin has examined in European literature.

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chronotope. 19 On the other hand, the temporal aspect of the chronotope in Kouduo richao also deserves our attention. Being carefully dated, each conversation is given a certain time span. No matter long or short, a conversation often starts with a question, then pauses and continues between interval marks (e.g., “after a moment,” “quite a while,” and “X again says”) to indicate a shift of speaker or subject, and ends with some conclusive remark. It is interesting to note that the well-designed Chinese print layout is adopted to make each time span visible to the reader. Wherever a date starts at the top of a line, to be vertically read according to the Chinese reading habit, it protrudes with one character higher than the other lines of the text. The reader is reminded that a conversation has just ended and he must shift to another. Similar designs were employed in many other Christian works around the time that Kouduo richao was compiled. These designs serve the dual function of a written dialogue: both a book (to be read) and an utterance (to be heard). The specific time-space configurations can be regarded as a generic indicator. They not only reveal the variety of dialogic works produced by the Jesuits and Chinese converts, but also distinguished dialogue from the other major genres in late Ming Christian literature. 1.1.2. Dialogue as a Medium of Thought

Despite its formal ambiguity, dialogue is still appreciated for the concepts and ideas it can transmit between the interlocutors in a dialogic context and between the author and the reader beyond that context. In this sense, it functions as a medium of thought. During the exchange of diverse voices, dialogue tends to reach a certain truth or common understanding, even though its innate hybrid mechanism often makes this goal hard to achieve. Hence, it can also be deemed a philosophical genre, by which thinkers, politicians, and religious believers in the past found an ideal way to test the strengths and weaknesses of various thoughts, concepts, and theories. By taking another look at the title Kouduo richao, we will recognize that the work is likewise thought-related. While the dualistic structure of kouduo and richao gives us a clue of the formal links between the oral and the written, the word duo contains an etymological link between thought and ideology. In ancient Chinese accounts, duo referred to a large bell with a metallic cup and a wooden clapper inside. It carried a special function in public administration. At a certain time in each year, lower rank officials were assigned to make inspection tours on the roads, striking a duo in hand to call upon people in the neighborhood and then announce the king’s decrees on various civil affairs. 20 These officials in the meanwhile were responsible to gather information (e.g., in the form of poetry) 19

For example, when arguing that chronotopes are the best device to categorize philosophical dialogues, Rockwell lists six distinctive types: villa time, symposium, public space, along the path, limbo, and soliloquy. Public space and limbo are considered public, yet the rest are considered private. See Rockwell 2003, pp. 179-183.

20

Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574–648), Shangshu zhengyi 尚書正義 (Correct Interpretations of the Book of History), in SSJZS, vol. 1, p. 157.

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about civilian life and report to the king. The meaning of duo thus gradually changed from a percussion instrument to the symbolic process of the transmission of information and thought. We now can better understand why Lin Yijun would present a triad interpretation – kouduo 口鐸 (oral instructions), shenduo 身鐸 (behavioral instructions), and xinduo 心鐸 (mental instructions) – for Aleni’s oral instructions. To him, these three aspects facilitate a perfect process of thought transmission in terms of Tianxue.21 More interestingly, Li Jiubiao compares Aleni to a hongzhong 洪鐘, a synonym of duo that also refers to a large bell. He writes, “The Masters were like sonorous bells that reverberate whenever they are struck. So now the sounds of the warning bell are all there: they truly suffice to enlighten the ignorant and to discipline the obstinate.” 22 It is striking that the etymological hints above can help define Kouduo richao as a medium of thought. 23 Of course, its dialogic structure transcends the traditional style of thought transmission between the ruler and his subordinates. 24 It becomes an intercultural dialogue in the new context. A remarkable character of dialogue is the identity complex structured by the self–other relation. This is how a dialogue differs from a treatise. In the former, self and other are presented face to face in the foreground, while in the latter the self lies at the center with only an implicit trace of the other as an absent rival or a hidden reader. We may compare Kouduo richao with Aleni’s treatise Wushi yan yu 五十言餘 (Fifty Proverbs and the Remnants, 1645) in terms of the self–other prototype.25 There appear three pairs of self–other relations in Kouduo richao: master–disciple, Chinese–European, and Christian–non-Christian. Each actor in one of these pairs speaks with a voice (individual self ) at some points and meanwhile actors from each side present some parallel voices (collective self ). Understandably, the character from the opposite side often responds as the other with a different voice. The diverse voices and identities they represent are by no means fixed in an interactive exchange among the same interlocutors, as we can see 21

KDRC, vol. 1, p. 19.

22

Ibid., pp. 23, 187.

23

There is another etymological hint of duo as a transmitter of thought. For example, Confucius once said, “It has been a long while without the Way prevailing in the world. Heaven will use your master as a wooden bell.” I have slightly revised Waley’s translation. See Waley 1989, p. 100. No solid connection has been found between duo and the Christian term duode 鐸德, which was a partial transliteration of Sacerdote for an ordained Catholic priest during the late Ming and early Qing period. Early transliteration for Sacerdote as saze’erduode 撒責爾鐸德 can be found in works such as da Rocha’s Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng and Yang Tingyun’s Daiyi pian.

24

There is a visible trace of this traditional style in another Christian text, Duoshu 鐸書 (Book of the Warning Bell) compiled by Han Lin around 1641. In this work, Han tries to combine maxims in the imperial edicts of Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, and key Christian moral values. See HCC 1, pp. 657-658.

25

This work is modelled after an earlier treatise by Ricci, Ershiwu yan 二十五言 (Twentyfive Proverbs, 1605). See HCC 1, p. 605.

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from the example of Li Jiubiao who changes from a non-Christian to a Christian convert. Nonetheless, neither the identity of one’s self nor that of the other can be said to have been eliminated. The self–other pair simply assumes a different appearance in a new situation. These dynamics in terms of identity classification are clearly absent in Wushi yan yu. Though Aleni attempts to harmonize Christian spiritual, moral concepts and Confucian virtues, as he does in Kouduo richao, the exclusive and singular didactic voice is closed to other possible voices. Instead of showing the reader with only one voice, dialogue leaves room for different voices, opinions, and identities, from which the reader can feel free to choose any out of his own interest. The self–other prototype becomes paradoxical in respect to the transactions of intellectual content. Specifically, the self both influences the other and meanwhile is influenced by the other through interactive communications. On the one hand, self-understanding is often used to shape one’s perception of the other. In Kouduo richao, we will encounter numerous examples, which testify not only how Aleni by his Western learning supports and rejects Chinese concepts in science, ethics, and religion but also how Chinese converts with their traditional knowledge respond differently to Aleni’s instructions. Clearly, thoughts transmitted in this way can hardly avoid prejudices, appropriations or misinterpretations. On the other hand, the voices of the self rarely remain unchanged in a dialogue, but are more or less influenced by its changing perceptions of the other. A good example could be the conversation between Aleni and Li Jiubiao on astrologic divination in 1631. At the beginning Li still tends to give credit to the astrological predictions on good luck or misfortune found in Chinese historical records, but after hearing Aleni’s strong arguments he changes to a critical view on the “superstitious” practice, and with reference to the apparent error in a recent astrological prediction he switches the original pro-Chinese voice to a pro-Christian one. 26 The changing relation between the self and the other, as we shall see later, facilitates the formation of hybrid concepts in the transmission of thought. While a concept is mentioned and exchanged in a dialogue, its transmission between the interlocutors often undergoes subsequent trials of tension and negotiation. A tension derives from the distance between the utterance of a message to be understood by the other and how the other in actuality understands it in a different way. A negotiation meanwhile takes places when the self and the other rethink and adjust their utterance and reception of the message transmitted. The subtle exchange is well represented in Heidegger’s A Dialogue on Language (1953/1954), in which he as the “inquirer” and a certain “Japanese scholar” discuss the metaphysical nature of language. As soon as a tension appears between the two – the language used in the dialogue is German, while what is to be experienced and commented on is Japanese art – they come to agree that the danger of language in a dialogue “might constantly destroy the possibility of saying that of which we are speaking.”27 In other words, language itself often sets an uttered 26

KDRC, vol. 1, pp. 132-134.

27

Heidegger 1971, p. 15.

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message apart from how that “message” is understood. The distinction, nonetheless, releases thought-provoking hints for the interlocutors to develop further negotiations on the message rather than stick to its original and correct derivation. We therefore may realize again the danger to apply either the “transmission” approach or the “reception” approach to late Ming Christian dialogues. The former denies the slightest change in a message from the point it is uttered to the point it is understood, thus determining whether the Jesuits “successfully” transmitted European thought to China. The latter, on the other hand, pushes the tension between a missionary and a Chinese to an extreme based on the assumption of the incompatibility of Chinese and European thoughts, thus ignoring that both parties from time to time tend to suggest alternative explanations of a message so that it can be better uttered or understood. If dialogue involves message transmission that embodies the self–other paradox, we must consider another important concept, authority. It reveals a powerrelation through different types of representations, for example, the ethnocentric complex. In a dialogic work like Kouduo richao, Aleni and Chinese converts are not immune to such a keen concern of authority. The very act of question and answer indicates an attitude of doubt towards the authorities of the past. This is why dialogue became a favorite form among Song and Ming Neo-Confucians to compete with each other and reclaim the Confucian orthodoxy. By assuming the role of a master in the Tianxue, Aleni also empowers himself as a new authority to challenge both past and present authorities in Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. In this sense, Aleni’s authority reflected in Kouduo richao is not merely an intellectual or religious one. It is also an ideological authority in power negotiations between Chinese and barbarian, between orthodox and heretic, and between good and evil. 1.1.3. From Dialogue to the Dialogic

The generic analysis gives us a clear picture of how dialogue serves both as a special literary genre and a medium of thought. The common concerns of literary critics and philosophers about dialogue thus lead to a “dialogic relation” that lies at the core of an interpersonal or intercultural encounter. As discussed in the introduction, human existence is unavoidably conditioned by the self–other paradox in a dialogic relation. In dealing with either literary representations or philosophical reflections, the three main characteristics – finitude, openness, and creativity – can be traced in the evolution from the dialogue to the dialogic. During the message formation and transmission in a dialogue, reinterpretation, appropriation, and alternation of voices often result in the superposition of horizons, thus leading to a dialogic hybridization. The trajectory from dialogue to the dialogic reminds us of the recent “interaction” theory, by which modern scholars try to grasp a macroscopic picture of the Christian intersection of the 17th-century Sino-Western encounter. Based on a set

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of philosophical theories on the self–other paradox, Standaert argues for an “interaction and communication” framework: As far as the interaction and communication framework is concerned it is most fundamentally based on a conception of identity, viz. that the identity of the self is not only formed through the isolated effort of the self but in the encounter with the other. In other words, who a person becomes is not only due to his or her own activity, but also due to the active or passive role of the other. Human beings become persons through their encounters with other persons and the subsequent communication that takes place between them. More fundamentally, we emerge as persons in a web of human (and other) relationships in which our inextricable connectedness to others is revealed. There is no self without the other.28

The terms “encounter” and “subsequent communication” can be understood as the briefest scheme for a dialogic process. The identity formation conditioned by the self–other paradox lies at its center, while other concepts, including space, tension, and negotiation, are also important components. The value of this framework, Standaert argues, derives from the challenge for the historian to “(re)instate the other as subject and a possible partner in a dialogue.”29 Therefore, in the understanding of another culture one may go through successive phases: to understand it on the basis of one’s own culture, to understand it in the other’s terms, to reassume one’s identity after the effort to understand the other, and finally, to realize new understandings of both the self and the other.30 The continuous interactions in this process, aiming to achieve a multi-layered mutual understanding in a cultural encounter, may avoid the unidimensional conclusions drawn by previous approaches such as transmission, reception, and invention. However, as Standaert admits, the “interaction and communication” framework is not yet perfect. For one thing, it lacks a solid ground to support the theoretical hypothesis. By analyzing those Christian dialogic works from late Ming China, we find both conflicts and confluences in terms of religious beliefs, intellectual concepts, and cultural customs. We also see how different ideas, images, and practices are exchanged by means of representation, appropriation, rejection, reinterpretation, and misunderstanding in the Sino-Western intercultural encounter. Furthermore, the previous models of accommodation/adaptation, localization, colonization, and confrontation can be integrated into the macroscopic “interaction and communication” framework.31 But this all-inclusive approach does not point out that the principles of finitude, openness, and creativity, which are 28

Standaert 2002, p. 28.

29

Ibid., p. 49.

30

Ibid., pp. 34-35.

31

The term “inculturation” has been used in Standaert’s studies. See Standaert 1988, pp. 219-224; and id. 1991, pp. 209-227. When redefining Christian mission in China in terms of cultural dialogue, Wang Xiaochao also argues that inculturation is not just a process of one-sided adaptation, but “a process of combination” between Christianity and the targeted national culture. See Wang Xiaochao 1998, pp. 223-236.

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fundamental for the self–other communication, are most effectively embodied in those Christian dialogic texts, including the unique work Kouduo richao. Though the “interaction and communication” framework suggests a cogent and balanced model for a better understanding of the late Ming cross-cultural exchanges, its effectiveness has not been demonstrated through substantive analysis of available sources. The model was challenged by some scholars in their recent research. Wu Liwei, for example, presented a comparison of the argumentational patterns among the leading Jesuits (e.g., Ricci and Aleni) and Chinese scholars (e.g., Yang Tingyun and Ye Xianggao), by which she would deny the possibility of an authentic form of “dialogue.” In these exchanges, she argues, both parties are self-centered and attempt to conceive a kind of unity on the basis of their own cultures. Aleni in particular treats key Chinese concepts, e.g., kong 空 (emptiness), wu 無 (nothingness), taiji 太極 (Great Ultimate), and tian 天 (heaven), in an indifferent and even arbitrary way. In the same vein Ye Xianggao is not really concerned with acquiring true knowledge of Christian doctrines; he rather assumes a typical Confucian stance showing openmindedness, respect, and tolerance towards Aleni’s critical remarks. Wu concludes that the case can attest the lack of mutual understanding among the Jesuits and Chinese scholars, and therefore there is no evidence that the “model of dialogism” actually existed in the late Ming Sino-Western encounter.32 Although Wu targets the problem of self-centered consciousness (or ethnocentrism) in the “interaction and communication” model, she makes a somewhat awkward assumption: unless a dialogue form comprises sufficient expressions and faithful interpretations between two equal parties, it should not be called dialogism, or “dialogue” in a theoretical sense. The assumption not only ignores the generic mechanisms of dialogue (e.g., openness and flexibility), but it also fails to answer the question why the Jesuits and Confucian scholars in the late Ming period frequently adopted the dialogue form in their writings. I think the puzzles in Standaert’s model and Wu’s criticism can be solved at both theoretical and practical levels. The present book carries out a full-scale investigation on Christian dialogic texts, including the exemplary work Kouduo richao, within the context of the early 17th-century Sino-Western encounter. These works reveal how dialogue is chosen by the Jesuits and Chinese converts as the most preferred medium to embody their interpersonal and intercultural communications. As a literary genre, dialogue functions with its dynamic mechanisms, e.g., informality, hybrid format, variety of voices, and time-space. As a vehicle of thought, dialogue further points to a set of ideological concerns – identity classification, self–other paradox, message transmission, and authority. These are the key issues for my analysis of Kouduo richao, by which I will reveal the subtle shifts from individual voices to collective voices, from interpersonal negotiations to intercultural exchanges, from literal meanings to ideological implications, and above all, from dialogue to dialogic hybridization. 32

Wu Liwei 2009, pp. 63-71.

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1.2. Traditions of Dialogue in China and Europe To understand the dialogic hybridization that characterizes Kouduo richao and other late Ming Christian works, we should investigate the historical context in which they took place and explain why dialogue became one of the most popular genres in late Ming Christian literature. In fact, the use of the dialogue form as philosophical medium was a familiar practice for both Chinese and Europeans. The present research does not aim to discuss Chinese and European traditions of dialogue in full length. It only offers an overall comparison on Confucian dialogues in China and Renaissance dialogues in Europe. The two traditions not only had parallel developments in their respective cultures, but they also had direct contact in the course of the introduction of Christianity and Western culture to late Ming China. The generic convergence of the dialogue enabled the Jesuits and Chinese scholars to adopt a familiar genre to represent diverse voices and exchange ideas without losing their self-identity in face of the other. 1.2.1. Dialogue in the Confucian Tradition

Dialogue had a prolonged tradition in China. Since the 6th century B.C.E., many schools of thought flourished and competed with each other in politics, philosophy, religion, and ethics. The Confucian school laid a special emphasis on moral cultivation and benevolent government, and the early Confucians regarded dialogue as a tool for knowledge transmission. The Lunyu can be regarded as the best example in this respect. Its use of the dialogic form signaled a shift of knowledge transmission from official records to private records. The conversations were not carried out between the ruler and officials at the royal court, but between scholars of equal social status. As the Confucian school and the other schools were involved in intensified contests and debates, the later Confucians developed longer and more sophisticated arguments in their dialogic works. No wonder Mencius once was obliged to defend his active engagement in debates: He was not fond of debates, but he had no alternative when he had to respond to the challenges from other schools.33 In the Lunyu, one often comes across some short explanations about when and where a conversation takes place. In one occasion, it records, “When the Master entered the Grand Temple, he asked questions about everything there. Someone said, do not tell me that this son of a villager from Tsou is expert in matters of ritual. When he went to the Grand Temple, he had to ask about everything. The Master hearing this said, Just so! Such is the ritual.”34 The Grand Temple specified in this episode has a twofold function: On the one hand, it shows us the conversation occurs in the Grand Temple dedicated to the Duke of Zhou at Qufu 曲 阜 in the State of Lu 魯. On the other hand, the temple was an important place for privileged royal authorities to perform ancestral rituals. With regard to the 33

See D.C. Lau 1970, p. 113.

34

Waley 1989, pp. 97-98.

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latter aspect, Confucius stresses a respectful mind rather than general knowledge in his definition of ritual. Therefore, the indication of the Grand Temple is embedded with both historical (factual information) and literary (symbolic implication) purposes. However, such a narrative device is not consistently used in the Lunyu. As a whole, this most important Confucian classic does not look like a homogeneous work, but a fragmentary collection of Confucius’ sayings and instructions. In Daoism, one of the major rivals of Confucianism, dialogue also played a special role. Zhuangzi created many dramatic dialogues in which he ridiculed artificial values in the world, including the moralistic talks among the Confucians. As a result, these dialogues were fictional rather than documentary, one of the main characteristics of Confucian dialogues. In the Zhuangzi, the readers may enjoy such an entertaining episode of conversation between Confucius and Yan Hui 顏回, one of his senior disciples: Yen Hui [i.e., Yan Hui] said, “I’m improving!” Confucius said, “What do you mean by that?” “I’ve forgotten benevolence and righteousness!” “That’s good. But you still haven’t got it.” Another day, the two met again and Yen Hui said, “I’m improving!” “What do you mean by that?” “I’ve forgotten rites and music!” “That’s good. But you still haven’t got it.” Another day, the two met again and Yen Hui said, “I’m improving!” “What do you mean by that?” “I can sit down and forget everything!” Confucius looked very startled and said, “What do you mean, sit down and forget everything?” Yen Hui said, “I smash up my limbs and body, drive out perception and intellect, cast off form, do away with understanding, and make myself identical with the Great Thoroughfare. This is what I mean by sitting down and forgetting everything.” Confucius said, “If you’re identical with it, you must have no more likes! If you’ve been transformed, you must have no more constancy! So you really are a worthy man after all! With your permission, I’d like to become your follower.”35

This satirical episode in a playful style subverts such key Confucian concepts as benevolence and righteousness, and ritual and music. Yan Hui’s enlightenment by means of sitting down and forgetting everything implies fundamental Daoist beliefs of non-action and nothingness. Moreover, the words attributed to Confucius at the end of the exchange completely overturn the much preferred master– 35

Watson 1996, pp. 86-87.

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disciple pattern of thought transmission. Zhuangzi’s dialogues of this sort remind us of Lucian’s satirical dialogue in ancient Greece. In his Bis accusatus sive Tribunalia (Double Indictment), Lucian similarly presented a dramatized dialogue between a personified Dialogue and a Syrian (Lucian) to deride Plato and his followers who pondered “serious” issues in intellectual discussions.36 It is interesting to note how these two versions of dialogue – one documentary/philosophical, one fictional/satirical – complemented each other in both Greek and Chinese traditions since early times. From the 3rd century to the 5th century, there appeared another pattern of dialogue in China. The eccentric literati of the time, whether Confucians or Daoists, engaged in the so-called qingtan 清談, or pure talks, in which they either freely exchanged witty words to poke fun at each other in public or indulged themselves in prolonged discussions on abstruse concepts. In many cases, for example, the anecdotal talks recorded in Liu Yiqing’s 劉義慶 (403–444) Shishuo xinyu 世說新語 (A New Account of Tales of the World, 5th c.), we notice that the qingtan participants intended to synthesize Confucian and Daoist ideas. 37 They regarded the Yijing 易 經 (Book of Changes) in Confucianism and the Daodejing and the Zhuangzi in Daoism as their core readings from which they could discover the untold truths of ancient sages. However, they were so fond of high-speed satirical conversation that the arguments they developed had a sophistic tendency. Some well-known scholars at the time, such as Ruan Ji 阮籍 (210– 263) and Ji Kang 嵇康 (223–263), consciously mixed the unruly qingtan conversations with their debauched life style. This, in a period of great disunity, was considered an ideological stance to either keep distance from political authorities or show contempt towards a fossilized morality. Confucian dialogues witnessed another climax during and after the Song dynasty, when Neo-Confucian thinkers, such as the Cheng Brothers, Zhu Xi 朱熹, Lu Jiuyuan 陸九淵 (1139–1192), and Wang Shouren, launched new campaigns to recover the orthodoxy of Confucian thought. They continued the master–disciple type of knowledge transmission in representative dialogic works, including Zhu Xi’s Zhuzi yulei 朱子語類 (Classified Conversations of Master Zhu, 1270) and Wang Shouren’s Chuanxi lu 傳習錄 (Instructions for Practical Living, 16th c.). The flourishing trend of dialogism provided useful models for Aleni and his convert disciples to follow in order to construct a new Christian–Confucian identity. The many correspondences between Christian dialogism and Confucian dialogism further reveal that, when integrating Confucianism with the Tianxue the Jesuits gradually managed to elevate their role as the culturally different other from the state of a dubious monk to that of an equal scholar from the West and a master of learning. Song–Ming Neo-Confucians preferred content to form in the dialogic pattern of thought transmission. Dialogue with its simple formal configurations and little 36 37

Snyder 1989, pp. 36-38. Zhou Shaoxian 1966, pp. 24-133; Xu Bin 2000, pp. 233-263.

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requirement on literary embellishment fulfilled their needs. The range of thematic choices in the philosophical dialogues produced during this period went far beyond what the classical Confucians could think of. For example, Zhu Xi, his disciples, and their rivals in a dialogue frequently shifted topics between the physical world (heaven and earth) and the metaphysical world (Tianli 天 理 , Heavenly Principle). They aimed to uncover, through dialogic exchanges, a universal truth that could unify all things and harmonize the trinity of heaven, earth, and mankind. The mechanisms of a dialogue enabled them to reach their goal through mutual inquiries, challenges, tensions, and negotiations. Song-Ming Neo-Confucians dominated the intellectual arena by way of philosophical and moralistic dialogues. They fostered Confucian education mainly through private academies, such as the Bailudong Academy (Bailudong shuyuan 白鹿洞書院) in the Song period and the Donglin Academy (Donglin shuyuan 東 林書院) in the late Ming period. It was in these locations that most scholarly conversations took place. 38 However, this growth did not mean that the NeoConfucians were totally immune to Buddhist and Daoist teachings. We can trace many components from the latter two – innate knowledge, formless mind, and spontaneous action – in the arguments of Wang Shouren from the Xinxue 心學 (School of Mind). According to Wang, by perceiving liangzhi 良知, or innate knowledge, within oneself one will immediately realize sagehood.39 His subjective approach not only differs from that of the ancient Confucians known for rational thinking, but it also tends to challenge the emphasis on practical investigations among Song Neo-Confucians. For example, Chuanxi lu records that, “One day, Wang Ji came back from his travel. The Master (Wang Shouren) asked, ‘What did you see in your trip?’ Wang Ji replied, ‘I saw sages filling the streets.’ The Master said, ‘You saw people as sages filling the streets, yet people filling the street saw you as a sage too.’”40 Witty conversations like this much resembled the popular gong’an 公案 (public cases) exchanged between a master and his disciples in Chan Buddhism. On the other hand, late Ming Buddhist leaders, such as Yunqi Zhuhong 雲棲袾宏 (1535–1615) and Ouyi Zhixu 藕益智旭 (1599–1655), adopted the form of moral and intellectual dialogues from NeoConfucian scholars as well.41 As a result, dialogue became an effective tool to facilitate late Ming religious and intellectual syncretism. 1.2.2. Renaissance Dialogues: A European Context

Since ancient times European culture has developed by means of the dialogue form. The Greek words dialogos, dialektikos, and dialegesthai used by Socrates (469–399 B.C.E.) and Plato (423–347 B.C.E.) referred to an interactive discus38

Elman 1989, pp. 379-418.

39

Tang Chun-i 1970, pp. 93-117.

40

See Chuanxi lu, in: Wang Yangming quanji, vol. 1, p. 116.

41

For studies on late Ming Buddhist syncretism, see Yü Chün-fang 1981 and Brook 1993.

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sion used to pursue the answer to the question posed at the beginning. 42 Plato presented his ideas through the medium of dialogues like the Symposium and the Republic, in which Socrates debates various interlocutors. Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.) in his Poetics hesitated to give a definition to the Socratic-style dialogue, but the form obviously attracted his attention. 43 Other great thinkers, such as Cicero (106–43 B.C.E.) and Lucian (ca. 120–180 C.E.), also favored this special art of speech and created exemplary models of dialogue. These criticisms and models in early European history were eschewed and imitated by later generations. After the medieval period, there was a revival of classicism in Renaissance Europe. Many works imitated the ancient Greco-Roman styles of Platonic, Ciceronian, and Lucianic dialogues. Leone Ebreo (Judah Abrabanel, ca. 1465–1530), a reputed Jewish thinker of the time, succeeded in integrating Platonic philosophy, Judaism, and Catholic theology into the dialogue form. Two dialogists, Philone and Sophia, are described as Platonic lovers in Ebreo’s Dialoghi di Amore (1535). When put together, these two names clearly refer to the Latin word philosophia. According to Ebreo, love is at the top of all wisdom and the source and the loftiest goal of the universe. It shows its operation in matter and form, in the Four Elements, in celestial spheres, in the human world, and in God the Creator. Ebreo further defines love as conversion of one lover into the beloved based on the voluntary spiritual and physical union of the two. Hence, the union with God could only derive from perfect love and perfect knowledge of God.44 Ebreo’s work and other well-known dialogic works, such as Leon Battista Alberti’s Della Famiglia (1434? – 1437) and Baldassare Castiglione’s Cortegiano (1528), permeated the literary and social mentality of Renaissance Europe. They attracted a lot of attention among contemporary theorists, especially the Cinquecento scholars, who would examine ancient Greek dialogic works from new angles and attempt to challenge the stereotyped division between the literary and the non-literary through this hybrid genre. As Cox has pointed out, there were stylish differences between the dialogues made in Cinquecento Italy and those made in the other parts of Europe, while the former as a trend gradually faded toward the end of the century.45 However, it is undeniable that till the mid-16th century dialogue remained as a popular genre and medium in European literature, philosophy, and religion. It is difficult to prove whether Aleni personally read any of the above dialogic works during his early years in Italy, but he should have been familiar with the genre of dialogue that had such a profound legacy in Europe.46

42

Rockwell 2003, pp. 41-43.

43

Aristotle, vol. II, p. 2316.

44

Milburn 1937, pp. 133-157.

45

Cox 1992, pp. 9-10, 22-33, 61-69.

46

Colpo 1997, pp. 73-83.

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1.3. Christian Dialogic Texts in Late Ming China The established traditions of dialogue in China and Europe provided a context in which Christian dialogic works became one of the most popular forms in the late Ming intercultural encounter. It seems necessary in this section to examine some well-read dialogues produced by the Jesuits and Chinese converts before Kouduo richao. The main purpose for this approach is to expose the varieties of Christian dialogic writings at the time, so that the distinctive features of Kouduo richao as well as its connections with other dialogues could be better understood in later discussions. Moreover, by examining dozens of Christian dialogues from the 1580s to the 1640s one will recognize a distinct phenomenon of the Jesuits’ changing identities as cultural other. This transformation, reflected in dialogic representations, to a certain extent reveal a concomitant rise of social status as they introduced the Tianxue to China. Their increased status may have motivated Fujian converts to compare the Jesuits, especially Aleni, to Confucian masters and employ the literary form of dialogue to record the latter’s intellectual, moral, and spiritual instructions. 1.3.1. Early Dialogic Works by Ruggieri and Cobo

Tianzhu shilu (True Record of the Lord of Heaven) was published by Michele Ruggieri in Zhaoqing 肇慶, Guangdong, in 1584.47 It is one of the earliest Jesuit catechetical works in China. 48 There are two characters in this work – an unnamed person huo 或 (someone), obviously a scholar, and a seng 僧, the common name for a Buddhist monk, referring to Ruggieri himself. The conversations between the two are arranged thematically into 16 chapters, starting from the true existence of the Lord of Heaven, to the Creation, to the Ten Commandments, and finally, to the sacred power of Holy Water. At the end of this work, Ruggieri gives two short scriptural translations: the Ten Commandments and the Hail Mary prayer. A dilemma arises when Ruggieri identifies himself as a “monk” of Tianzhu 天 竺 (i.e., India). In the preface, he claims that the “Holy Doctrine” (shengjiao 聖 教) of the Lord of Heaven “does not demand to fast and sit in meditation every day, neither does it force one to discard one’s previous career and follow one’s master to travel afar.”49 These words seem to take Buddhism and Confucianism as contrasts to Christianity. In the main text, Ruggieri attacks some Buddhist ideas from a Christian stand. However, these criticisms could have confused the Chinese who saw Ruggieri and his confreres as no different from other Buddhist monks. After the fathers founded the first church in Zhaoqing, the Prefect Wang Pan 王泮 sent them two tablets inscribed with “Temple of Immortal Flower” and 47

For the recent studies and re-evaluations of Ruggieri, see, for example, Witek 2001, pp. 314-346; Liu Yu 2011, pp. 362-383.

48

HCC 1, p. 612; Ricci, TCSI, “Translators’ Introduction,” pp. 11-12.

49

Ruggieri, Tianzhu shilu (hereafter: TZSL), vol. 1, pp. 1-4.

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“Pure Land from the West.” 50 The names undoubtedly originated from Buddhism, but the behaviors of these foreign “monks” appeared to be very strange to Wang and the people of Zhaoqing. They shaved their heads and wore Buddhist robes, but they did not bow to Buddha or any Buddhist deities. They called their house a “temple,” but it differed in style from a typical Buddhist temple. Moreover, they claimed to come from India, but the fantastic objects they brought, such as the prism, clock, sundial, etc., did not seem to be things of an Indian origin.51 Misunderstandings and suspicions caused by this dubious identity embarrassed Ruggieri and his confreres, who found that this Buddhist guise had become a real threat to their monotheistic Christian belief. The identity puzzle in Tianzhu shilu shows us a context structured indirectly rather than explicitly. In other words, we can easily recognize that the “monk” from India utters a voice distinct from a traditional Buddhist one. Such a Christian context must be revealed through what the monk argues for his belief, not how he identifies himself. For example, Ruggieri in the voice of a “monk” awkwardly attacks the Buddhist idea of saṃsāra, the eternal cycle of birth, suffering, death, and rebirth. He writes: I ever heard some heterodox people saying that “a man’s soul may enter into an animal’s body and return to the human world.” These are truly unfounded words. A man’s soul only fits his own body. How come can a man fit his soul into the body of someone else? An animal’s soul only fits its own body. How come can a man’s soul fit into an animal’s body? This is similar to a knife only suitable for its scabbard and a sword only suitable for its scabbard. How can we fit the knife into the scabbard of a sword?52

It is a common Buddhist belief that, after a person dies, one’s soul will transfer from his or her body to another living creature, either a human or an animal. Nonetheless, Ruggieri, who calls himself a monk from India, does not bring forward another term, nirvāṇa, and depict it as the highest Buddhist truth which leads to liberation from saṃsāra. On the contrary, his logic is based on a ranking of souls in the world – man’s soul at the top, animal’s soul at the second place, and plant’s soul at the bottom – which is derived from Aristotle’s natural philosophy of the soul.53 It must have incurred confusion among the Chinese who anticipated familiar Buddhist terms from Ruggieri according to his assumed Buddhist identity. Since Ruggieri insists on the existence of the human soul after death, the Chinese interlocutor asks him many questions regarding this subject. Ruggieri first points out human intellect, which distinguishes the human soul from the souls of an animal or a plant. He then lists several reasons for the inextinguishable feature of human soul: It is the endowment of the Lord of Heaven; it is the scale by 50

Gallagher 1953, pp. 144-159.

51

Ibid., pp. 150-151, 165-169.

52

TZSL, p. 38.

53

Aristotle, On the Soul, in Aristotle, vol. I., pp. 656-692.

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which the Lord of Heaven could reward the good and punish the bad; it exists as the goal of one’s cultivation in this life; and it exists because people often ask about it but never about the existence of animal soul.54 Compared to Ricci’s arguments on the same subject in his Tianzhu shiyi, Ruggieri’s reasoning looks fairly simple. No wonder the Chinese interlocutor would keep nitpicking, continuing to ask about topics such as the place for a soul to stay and the sexual desire of a soul, to challenge him. Examples of this type indicate that messages formed and transmitted in Tianzhu shilu depend more on conceptual clarification than on creative reinterpretation and negotiation. Undoubtedly, the rigid catechetical style is a formal element that constrains the potential scope for the argument. Ruggieri’s awkward transliterations of Christian terms may have also caused much unease for the Chinese interlocutor. Many of these terms, such as Resuo (Jesus) and shagemianduo 唦㗆喕哆 (sacraments), are translated into Chinese for the first time. How come this Indian “monk” calls Buddhism a heterodox belief yet introduces some names and notions unheard in Buddhist scriptures? When Ruggieri tells the story of Resuo, he does not explain why Jesus’ soul coming back to his own body has any fundamental difference from the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. All that he uses to support this Christian concept is a very obvious analogy: Jesus’ resurrection may be compared with one’s putting back the sword to the scabbard.55 As one can expect, the borrowing of a Buddhist identity puts Ruggieri into a dilemma. He is obliged to make extra efforts to convince the Chinese scholar that Christianity is superior to, or at least different from, Buddhism. In this sense, the eulogistic remarks of the Chinese scholar at the end sound rather forced, saying that he now truly believes in the existence of God and wants to convert to the teaching of the “respectful” monk.56 Even though the device is likely intended to create a realistic effect, the whole dialogic process appears to be rather artificial on top of the dubious Christian-Buddhist identity classification. In 1588, before he could solve the identity puzzle, Ruggieri was ordered to go back to Rome for the purpose of mission propaganda. With the help of Ricci and a local official, Ruggieri prepared a Chinese letter addressed to Emperor Wanli 萬曆 (Zhu Yijun 朱翊鈞, 1573–1620) on behalf of the Pope. He then took it to Rome in search of an official authorization to send it from there back to China. The distinctiveness of this letter lies in its adoption of a Buddhist identity and Buddhist concepts to describe Christianity. Being addressed as the senghuang 僧 皇, or Emperor of Monks, Xishidu 西師都 (i.e., Pope Sixtus V, 1520–1590) expresses a will to spread the “orthodox teaching of the Lord of Heaven” in China. He proposes to dispatch emissaries to pay respect to Emperor Wanli and bring to the latter “authentic scriptures of the Lord of Heaven.” The origin of this “Holy Doctrine” is said to come from Tianzhu, namely, India. The letter was 54

TZSL, pp. 42-43.

55

Ibid., p. 65.

56

Ibid., p. 79.

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signed in July 1590.57 Unfortunately, due to the swift successions of the Roman popes, it never had a chance to be reviewed by authorities of the Church. The Jesuits in China had to work out their own way to solve the puzzle. Juan Cobo (Gao Muxian 呣𠿢, d. 1592), a Spanish Dominican, wrote his Bian zhengjiao zhenchuan shilu 辨正教真傳實錄 (Apologia de la Verdadera Religion, 1593; hereafter: Zhenchuan shilu) in a condition different from that of Ruggieri in China. He joined a group of Dominicans to the mission of the Philippines in 1586. When he arrived at Manila in 1588, he was assigned to work at Parian, the Chinese district in the city. His first work in Chinese was called Doctrina Christiana (1593). It was a catechism written in Fujian dialect and Tagalog.58 Cobo also translated into Spanish the Beng Sim Po Cam (i.e., Mingxin baojian 明心寶鑑), a popular moral book in late Ming society, but it did not create much impact at the time. It seems that he picked up this work to familiarize himself with the terms in Chinese religions and ethics. 59 The writing of Zhenchuan shilu might have started earlier, but it was printed later than the two other works. Cobo must have asked an educated Chinese to help him refine the language. Not only does it bear an elegant style, but it also indicates a conscious effort to interpret key Christian doctrines in Chinese terms. Cobo’s main source may have been Luis de Granada’s (1505–1588) Introdución al Simbolo de la Fe.60 However, from numerous similar expressions found in Zhenchuan shilu and Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu, it is also possible that Cobo might have referred to the latter work as well.61 He does show creativity by incorporating solid geographic knowledge into his religious dialogue. This treatment indicates his intellectual tendency. Though not obvious in Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu, the same tendency can be seen in the Jesuits’ dialogic writings in China and gradually gained weight in their introduction of the Tianxue. Since 1570, the Spanish colonists established control over the Philippine islands, but the political and social conditions were hardly stable. In 1574, Manila 57

Cordier 1883, “Appendix.”

58

The date of this work is still an unsolved question among scholars. See Fidel Villarroel, O.P., “Introduction: Al Shih-Lu,” Capitulo III, “El Shih-lu: Observacionnes HistóricoBibliográficas,” in Zhenchuan shilu, p. 47.

59

Mingxin baojian. The work was also popular in Korea at the time. See de Bary – Kim 1985, pp. 1-25.

60

Zhenchuan shilu, p. 49.

61

In addition to the seng title, there are several other resemblances between the two works. For example, the first chapter, titled “There truly exists one Heavenly Lord” in Tianzhu shilu, looks quite similar in wording to the second chapter of Cobo’s work, called “On the real existence of one Infinite as the beginning of the ten thousand things.” As for the criticism on the Buddhist concept saṃsāra, Cobo states the same argument as that of Ruggieri quoted above. There is at least one more similarity between Ruggieri’s second chapter titled “Things about the Heavenly Lord” and Cobo’s third chapter titled “About the Infinite,” where both writers give the same two exempla with almost the same wording. These resemblances suggest that Cobo very likely knew Ruggieri’s work before or along his own writing.

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received a serious attack from Lin Feng 林鳳 (known as Limahong in Western sources), a notorious Chinese pirate defeated by Ming navy forces and escaped to Luzon. Meanwhile, the native Filipinos started a revolt and killed many Spanish soldiers and merchants.62 There was also external pressure from Japan. The Shogun Hideyoshi (1536–1598) in 1592 sent an envoy to Manila and demanded its submission as a vassal state. Cobo was appointed by the governor of Manila, likely because of his relatively neutral role as a missionary and Chinese expertise. He interrupted the writing of his work and set out to Japan to negotiate with the threatening Japanese. He explains at the end of Zhenchuan shilu, “I had just finished a few chapters and the remaining parts were yet to be done, when I was appointed to serve the government. I have to wait to finish a whole compilation in the future. I myself would call it the True Record, in which these first chapters may be seen as the beginning parts.”63 He never fulfilled his ambition, unfortunately. He died at the hands of the natives of Formosa on his return trip in 1592.64 Zhenchuan shilu was printed posthumously in the next year, possibly by Cobo’s Dominican confreres.65 In his work, how to clarify the Christian identity remains a problem for Cobo. It records conversations between a Chinese scholar from the Great Ming, who sharply criticizes the heretical teachings (e.g., Buddhism and Daoism) of his time, and a monk master (sengshi 僧師). Cobo’s adoption of this special title might be partly due to the fact that there was no systematic introduction of priestly ranking in Catholicism at the time. Another Buddhist title corresponding to sengshi is seen from the title page, where it is said that the creation of Zhenchuan shilu follows the order of Heshang wang 和尚王, or the “King of Monks.” As the conversations between the two proceed, the “monk master” presents a strong Confucian undertone to develop arguments on his spiritual, ethical, and practical knowledge. Not only does he adopt such terms as liangzhi and wuji 無極, or the Infinite, from Neo-Confucianism, but he also characterizes his intellectual dialogues with a Confucian outlook. In one place, Cobo even literally repeats the statement of Mencius, saying that he is not fond of disputation but has no choice in his search of li 理, or principle, to argue against the heretics.66 Indeed, Cobo consciously exhibits typical Confucian terminology in the voice of the monk master. He says, Only the virtuous and wise people are the most reasonable. Their thinking is honest and their observation detailed. Their acts are neither hasty nor impul62

Zhang Weihua 1968, pp. 89-108.

63

Zhenchuan shilu, p. 62a.

64

Alberto Santamaria, O.P., “Introduction: Al Shih-Lu,” Capitulo I, “El Autor: Juan Cobo, misionero y Embajador,” in Zhenchuan shilu, pp. 1-2.

65

According to Vallarroel, the publisher of Zhenchuan shilu is unknown. See Zhenchuan shilu, p. 48. However, the title page indicates that it was produced by some “Western scholar” (Xishi) in the spring of 1593.

66

Zhenchuan shilu, p. 8a.

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CHAPTER ONE sive. I stay in this temple. There is a man who comes to the door, requesting an interview. I empty the seat and wait for him so that we can sit and talk with each other. It is not because of big profits, but the infinity of principles and the finitude of man’s intellect and knowledge. Do I dare to be content with myself?67

These words betray Cobo’s intent to equate himself with a scholar, especially a Confucian scholar, who is open-minded to exchange thoughts with others. In the voice of a Confucian scholar, Cobo then says, “A sage purifies the Way and a virtuous man knows the Way, but a stupid and unworthy man tries to learn the Way. Scholars must trust sages who purify and understand the Way and be happy to follow them.”68 By using these Confucian expressions, Cobo empowers himself to abandon the dubious Buddhist identity. The sengshi title, however, still comes up from time to time in the work. Largely due to his open attitude, Cobo in Zhenchuan shilu goes beyond a unidimensional presentation of Christian doctrines. He instead discusses a broad range of intellectual themes, especially geographical and cosmological ones. These themes, such as the earth’s sphericity, the temperature zones, as well as the ten heavens, certainly serve Cobo’s purpose to promote the almighty power of the Lord of Heaven. However, his treatment demonstrates one feature of the generic potential of dialogue, that is, its flexibility to incorporate diverse subjects with limited formal configurations. In addition, to make the arguments more attractive, pictures and illustrations are inserted into the conversations between the monk master and the Chinese scholar. A good example is that, when discussing the earth’s spherical shape, Cobo draws a series of graphs, such as the cosmological structure, the configuration of the earth, and the lunar eclipse, to support his “novel” geographic concept.69 Though the style of argumentation cannot be found in Confucian dialogue tradition, it resembles the Confucian concept of boxue 博學 (broad learning) and therefore opens up to possible negotiations between the Chinese and the nonChinese. By consciously adopting a Confucian voice, Cobo involves himself in a paradoxical self–other relation. Not only does he try to remove the long-standing Sinocentric concept of Hua–Yi zhi bian 華夷之辨 (Chinese–barbarian distinction), but he also blends Christian concepts with core Neo-Confucian terms. For example, Cobo equates the term wuji with the Lord of Heaven. His reasoning is straightforward. There different names for the Lord of Heaven in different places. If wuji in Chinese is seen as the origin of the universe, it must be the Chinese name for the Lord of Heaven, the Creator of all.70 In other words, the names for 67

Zhenchuan shilu, p. 5a.

68

Ibid., p. 5b.

69

Ibid., pp. 31c-31h.

70

Cobo quotes the influential Neo-Confucian proposition wuji er taiji 無極而太極 (The Great Ultimate comes after the Infinite). However, it seems that he knows little about the debates among Song and Ming Confucians on this subject.

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God could be different, but there is only one truth. Cobo then takes the chance to give his opinion on the distinction between the Chinese and barbarians. He says: There is only one principle under the heaven, not two principles. The correct principle only has one teaching, not two teachings. If the principle is proper and the teaching of it is correct, I treat it like a Chinese one even if it is from some barbarian. I believe it due to its correctness in principle and follow it without doubt. If the principle is not good and the teaching of it is incorrect, I treat it like a barbarian even if it is from some Chinese. I do not believe it due to the incorrect principle and deny it without considering [my action] wrong. Therefore the great sages and worthies do not believe and follow the words without verification. If they do not follow the words, neither would they transmit them. Let alone (the Confucian saying) “without refined words one could not go very farther”!71

Here Cobo applies a strong rhetoric to his apology. He talks as if he has transcended the barrier between the Chinese and the non-Chinese. This “neutral” stand is proved ironically through a conscious appropriation of Confucius’ words on one’s attitude to knowledge transmission. It is interesting to note that Cobo also reinterprets (or in a sense misinterprets) another key Neo-Confucian concept, liangzhi to support his arguments on the superior position of man among other creatures. He says: The difference between man and the animals lies in one thing: Man is a lofty creature; the animals are inferior. How is man lofty? Man is lofty because he is endowed with inborn conscience, that is, inborn ideas and inborn instinct. But now man, following his egoistic ways, has lost his conscience. He has rejected and abandoned his personality.72

Clearly, the argument combines the basic Christian views on man’s superiority and his loss of good nature due to the original sin. The wording, however, sounds much like Wang Shouren’s liangzhi concept on the basis of Mencius original thinking. In the Mengzi 孟子, it says “What a man is able to do without having to learn it is what he can truly do; what he knows without having to reflect on it is what he truly knows. There are no young children who do not know how to love their parents, and every one of them when they grow up will know how to love their elder brothers. Loving one’s parents is benevolence; respecting one’s elders is rightness. What is left to be done is simply the extension of these to the whole Empire.”73 This typical Confucian ideal of moral cultivation was stressed by Wang Shouren and many other Neo-Confucians, who made efforts to reach sagehood.74 71

Zhenchuan shilu, p. 10a.

72

Ibid., p. 6b. Here I quote the editor’s translation.

73

See D.C. Lau 1970, p. 184.

74

For example, after comparing liangzhi with Buddhist kong 空 (emptiness) and Daoist wu 無 (nothingness), Wang argues, “The sage simply follows the work of his liangzhi. The ten thousand things between heaven and earth are all included in the work and operation of my

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Interestingly, the Chinese interlocutor is also inspired by the monk master in using the term. He affirms it by rephrasing Mencius’ original statement. To respond, Cobo naturally shifts to the supreme role of the Lord of Heaven: Man with his innate liangzhi is still confined by the physical world and cannot understand God.75 Through this active message exchange, Cobo succeeds in appropriating the identity of the other (Confucian, not Buddhist) in order to establish his self-identity (Christian). In a sense, though the identity puzzle is not completely solved in Cobo’s dialogue, it does show an alternative way by which a Christian and a Confucian can enter an interactive communication. 1.3.2. Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi and Jiren shipian

As the representative work of Ricci, Tianzhu shiyi was published three years after Cobo’s Zhenchuan shilu. His solution for the identity problem seemed a more thoughtful one, aiming to avoid Ruggieri’s dilemma in Tianzhu shilu. As we can expect, Ricci reached such a point that he not only presented himself as a Western scholar but also introduced Christian doctrines in terms of Confucian learning. In 1595, on his way to the north with the Vice Director of Ministry of War, Ricci for the first time let his beard grow and wore a Confucian gown before he visited the local officials.76 Since August in the same year, soon after Ricci settled at Nanchang 南昌, he wrote a few letters to Europe and repeatedly discussed the advantages of a change of identity from seng 僧 (monk) to shi 士 (scholar). For example, in one letter written on November 4, Ricci informed Father Claudio Acquaviva (1543–1615), the General Superior of the Society of Jesus, about the color and style of his scholarly dress, including the belt, shoes, and hat which he wore when socializing with Chinese scholars and officials. He then stresses that it is necessary to change the former Buddhist identity to a Confucian one: Moreover, we decided to abandon the name bonzo [i.e., seng 僧 in Chinese], with which they had called us in this kingdom until now. The name is like that of “friar” among us, with very low status. There are three major teachings in China. Buddhism, the sect where the monks do not marry and worship idols in temples, is the lowest [of the three], because [monks] come from the poor and are uneducated. Though they profess virtue, they are probably the most depraved of all. Especially officials, who belong to a different sect [= i.e., Confucianism], do not pay any attention to them. Since the monks shave their head and beard, have altars, and live in temples and do not marry, they [i.e., the Chinese] easily thought that we belonged to the same sect, and that we were liangzhi. Never has there been a thing beyond liangzhi or a thing that can be the hindrance of it.” See Chuanxi lu, in Wang Yangming quanji, vol. 1, p. 106. 75

Zhenchuan shilu, pp. 130-134.

76

Gallagher 1953, p. 153. The identity of this Chinese official is still a debated issue. Three possible figures have been proposed: Shi Xing 石星, Sun Kuang 孙鑛, and She Li 佘立. For a recent study on this topic, see Liu Liping 2011, pp. 381-391.

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regarded among our peoples as their monks. For that reason, no matter how many efforts we spent in increasing our dignity, many scorn[ed] us, and the literati [were] reluctant to give us suitable places. For this reason, by order of the Father Visitor we changed to literati dress and grew a beard. After a few months my beard grew very long. We asked the house servants to address us, accordingly, not as “Reverend” [= Reverentia, shifu 師傅／師父 or fashi 法 師] but as “Master” / “Lord” [= Signoria; i.e., xiansheng 先生 or laoye 老 爺]. We have claimed to be theologians and educated preachers, as there are among them. Having done so, Chinese literati will allow us to enter their circles and assign us suitable places. They are already glad to stay in contact with us, but none of them would deal with the monks. This is the case not only in Nanjing, but also in this whole city [of Nanchang]. This has already been implemented, and now only very few people still call and address us as monks.77

While Ruggieri and Cobo held vague attitudes toward the Buddhist identity, Ricci determinately announced his objection to any further use of the seng title. He set up a new objective, namely, to establish a Christian–Confucian relation for the Jesuits’ dialogic encounter with the scholars and officials whose belief can be absorbed into the Tianxue and meanwhile incurred the least danger to Christian monotheist doctrine. In Tianzhu shiyi, both dialogists are identified as shi 士 (scholar), one from China and the other from Yuanxi 遠西, or the Far West. They discuss various topics, including the fundamental components of the universe and human nature, which more or less reflect their philosophical and moral concerns rather than religion per se. Ricci accomplished a decisive transformation for early Christian dialogic literature in China. His model of scholarly dialogues suggests a “compatible but not identical” undertone for both Chinese and Jesuit dialogists. In other words, the Tianxue may have some concepts that can be found in Confucian clas77

“Oltre di ciò determinassimo sbandire il nome di bonzo, con che sin hora ci avevano chiamato in questo regno, che è tra loro come frate, ma cosa molto bassa; perchè come nella Cina vi sono tre sette principali, quella de’ bonze che non pigliano mogli e stanno ne’ tempj adorando gli idoli, è la più bassa per esser di gente povera senza studio de lettere. E benchè professano virtù, sono forse i più vitiosi di tutti gli altri, e specialmente i governatori, oltre l’esser di setta contraria a loro, non ne fanno nessun caso. E come questi si radono i capelli e la barba, tengono altari e stanno in tempj senza pigliar moglie, facilmente penzorno che noi eramo della stessa setta e, che tra nostri siamo tenuti nel’istesso conto che i bonzi tra loro, e per questo, per più che ci autorizzassemo, molti fanno scornio di noi, e i letterati non ci vogliono dare i luoghi che conviene. Per questo effetto con ordine del p. visitatore, oltre questa veste, che è propria de letterati, lasciassemo crescer la barba, che a me crebbe molto lunga in puochi mesi, e ci facciamo chiamare a quei di casa, non per reverentia, ma per signoria, et avemo dato fama che siamo theologi e predicatori letterati, come anco sono tra loro, e con questo ci daranno entrata e luogo conveniente; e già vogliono trattar con noi, perchè nessun gentilhuomo tratta con bonzo familiarmente, e non solo in Nanchino, ma anco in tutta questa città. Sta già introdutto questo, e già puochi ci chiamano e parlano per riverentia come a bonzi.” “M. Ricci all’Acquaviva a Roma, Nancian, 4, nov. 1595,” in: Opere storiche del P. Matteo Ricci S.J., vol. 2, p. 200.

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sics, but one cannot blend the two teachings into one. In this way Ricci employs well-known Confucian concepts to either consolidate Christian teaching or attack native religions such as Buddhism and Daoism. Moreover, he maintains his other identity whenever necessary, especially in face of those dubious ideas and practices under the influence of Confucianism (e.g., taiji and ancestral worship). Like Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu and Cobo’s Zhenchuan shilu, Ricci’s work is divided into a series of general themes, including the creation of the universe by the Lord of Heaven, mistaken views about Him, the eternal human soul, false teachings of Buddhist reincarnation and the taboo on killing, Heaven and Hell, innate goodness of human nature, celibacy of the Jesuits, and incarnation of the Lord in Jesus Christ. These themes function as unifying factors for the diverse voices exchanged between the Chinese scholar and the Western scholar. Having stayed in China for fifteen years, Ricci understood the customs and value systems of late Ming culture much better than Ruggieri and Cobo. It is not surprising that his method to accommodate Confucianism and attack heretic religions appeared to be more effective. At the beginning of Tianzhu shiyi, Ricci points out the differences among the native Chinese religions in the voice of the Western scholar: Daoism centers on nothingness, Buddhism searches for emptiness, but Confucianism promotes existence and sincerity. 78 According to him, only Confucianism seems to be close to the Christian truth. He further discovers a Chinese designation of God in the Confucian classics. The so-called Shangdi 上 帝, or Lord on High, is said to be the ancient Chinese name for God. In fact, rulers of the Shang dynasty normally used the term Shangdi to refer to a principal deity above the ordinary spirits, till the Zhou defeated the Shang and introduced the new term tian, namely, Heaven.79 Ricci thus builds a bridge between Christianity and Confucianism by picking up this term directly from such Confucian classics as Yijing, Shijing 詩經 (Book of Songs), and Shangshu 尚書 (Book of History).80 Interestingly, the Chinese scholar responds with a doubt by bringing forth several Neo-Confucian arguments on tian and Shangdi. This stimulates the Western scholar to further contrast the visible heavens with the invisible Lord of Heaven.81 Here one can clearly recognize Ricci’s strategy in a self–other paradox: his understanding of tian is conditioned by Western scientific knowledge and the practical knowledge allows him to creatively interpret the ancient Chinese term Shangdi, but not the Neo-Confucian metaphysical equation of the two terms through li, the fundamental principle of the universe. Before Ricci pointed out the term Shangdi, another term, Tianzhu (Lord of Heaven) had already been used by Ricci and his confreres. They came to know the concept of tian not long after they entered China. Though worship of tian dated back to the Zhou dynasty, during and after the Han dynasty, tian became 78

TCSI, pp. 98-99.

79

Ibid., “Translators’ Introduction,” pp. 33-34; Schirokauer 1991, pp. 19-20.

80

TCSI, pp. 120-125.

81

Ibid., pp. 126-129.

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one of the key concepts in Confucianism. However, it did not possess any personal characteristics. It was more like a supreme moral force that both regulated the operation of the universe and watched over human society. When the Jesuits met a young Chinese catechumen who saluted the painting of Christ with the name of Tianzhu around 1582, they decided to adopt the term as it preserved the Chinese belief in tian and contained a personified nature of God.82 It ended up being the formal designation for the Christian God in the Catholic Church in China till the present day. Ruggieri applies the term in Tianzhu shilu, but he does not discuss any of its Confucian implications. There is an obvious gap between Tianzhu and the rigidly transliterated Chinese name liaowusi 了無私 for the Latin word “Deus”. Cobo follows Ruggieri’s use of Tianzhu in his Zhenchuan shilu, but he tends to equate the Lord of Heaven with wuji, or the Infinite, which is a favorite term in Neo-Confucianism. He may not have been aware that wuji likewise possesses an impersonal nature similar to tian, so his analogy is not very convincing. After studying Confucian classics for a long time, Ricci finally picked up the concept of Shangdi, with which he intended to argue that the Lord of Heaven indeed “existed” since the beginning of Chinese civilization. 83 The term brings two advantages for Ricci in Tianzhu shiyi. On the one hand, it offers him a good opportunity to merge Christianity and Confucianism. On the other hand, it enables him to distinguish Catholic theology from the “wrong” teachings developed by the Song–Ming Neo-Confucian scholars. Therefore, it is not surprising that Ricci continuously argues why li 理 (principle) cannot be the creator of the world; how qi 氣 is just a physical element in the universe without any spiritual nature; and how the classical concept of filial piety has been misunderstood by later Confucians. Through this distinction, Ricci consciously presents his role as a faithful successor of Confucian orthodoxy opposing superficial or heretical theories. As far as Buddhism is concerned, Ricci shows his unyielding stand. He must have studied the idea of saṃsāra in some detail, since he lists seven mistakes concerning this term: First, there can be no previous life and the records of previous incarnations are forged by the Buddhists. Second, if a human soul is transferred into an animal body, the present animals should be smarter than animals of the past. Yet we cannot see the difference. Third, the three souls – vegetative, sentient, and rational – may be confused by the idea of saṃsāra; Fourth, one’s soul could only match one’s own body. Fifth, an evil person may satisfy his desires if he turns into a beast with a similar nature to his own. It cannot be called a punishment in this sense. Sixth, if a parent is to be reborn as an ox or a horse, though not being killed, he may be driven by his children to till in the field or carry goods on the road. That will be an unbearable humiliation, especially in 82

Gallagher 1953, pp. 148-149.

83

Ricci’s familiarity with Confucian classics can be proved in his effort to translate the famous Sishu 四書 (Four Books) into Latin in 1593 and 1594. See TCSI, “Translators’ introduction,” p. 14.

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terms of filial piety; finally, if one is reborn as another man or woman, there would be chaos in human relations.84 Apparently, Ricci aims at the loopholes of Buddhist logic. His attacks on other Buddhist practices, such as chanting the name of Amitābha Buddha and the taboo on killing, also employ logical contradictions. For example, since plants also have souls, the monks violate their principle of “no killing” by eating plants and burning wood.85 Ricci’s arguments in his attacks on Buddhism and other contemporary religions deserve attention. For example, Sanyi jiao 三一教, or the Teaching of Three in One, was a cult during the late Ming that tried to mix the doctrines of native religions. 86 Ricci describes it in Tianzhu shiyi as a monster with three heads. After giving a series of reasons, he argues that it was illegal and impossible to blend the three different teachings – Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. To him, There is only one truth, and the Way lies in harmonizing oneself with that truth. Only so may one live a life of abundance. If you fail to find [the true Way] your roots will not go deep, and if your roots do not go deep, your way will prove uncertain; and if your way proves uncertain, your faith will lack sincerity.87

Ironically, Ricci ignores the significance of late Ming eclecticism, which actually helped create the environment of intellectual openness for him and his confreres to synthesize the two “compatible” teachings: Christianity and Confucianism. In general, Ricci’s strategy in his Tianzhu shiyi appears to be more practical and effective than the prior dialogues by Ruggieri and Cobo. He creates an intimate link between Christianity and Confucianism, in which the Buddhist “monk” is replaced by a Confucian “scholar.” He stands on the Confucian side when attacking Buddhism, Daoism, and other native religions. However, many NeoConfucian ideas do not sound correct to him either. It is a difficult mission for him, as a scholar from the West, to recover the truth, in both Confucian and Christian senses from ancient writings. If one agrees that Ricci opened a new era for the Jesuits’ missionary work in China, his thoughtful display of the self and the other through the intellectual conversations in Tianzhu shiyi would be the perfect proof. Compared to Tianzhu shiyi, another widely circulated work of Ricci – Jiren shipian 畸人十篇 (Ten Chapters of an Extraordinary Man, 1608) – focuses more on a display of thematic choices. Generally speaking, Ricci seems to put most effort in developing didactic admonitions for moral and spiritual cultivation. A good example may be found in chapter nine, in which Ricci (in the first person “I”) and a scholar surnamed Guo discuss the misfortunes caused by falsely using 84

TCSI, pp. 242-257.

85

Ibid., p. 264.

86

The founder of this cult is Lin Zhao’en 林兆恩 (1517–1598). For a comprehensive study on Lin and his thought, see Berling 1980.

87

TCSI, p. 407. Here I use Lancashire’s translation.

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astrologic divinations. Though Ricci may have resorted to his astronomic knowledge on this occasion and prove the superstitious nature of this sort of practices popular among the Chinese, he choose to argue about its falsehood from a moralistic perspective, which runs through all ten chapters of his work. First of all, Ricci points out that astrologic divinations are only “correct” by accident. The occurrence of fortune or misfortune is a warning to a man to change his acts from bad to good, but one should not use a dubious skill to gain fortune or escape misfortune. If the diviners can truly foretell other men’s fortune, Ricci argues, how come they do not use the same skills to make themselves rich?88 When Guo is surprised by the claim that divination can incur misfortune which might not happen otherwise, Ricci develops an argument on the psychological effect of man’s fear. He tells Guo the story on a prisoner in the West who was deceived by a doctor and died out of fear. The blindfolded prisoner was pricked on the arm by a doctor to let his blood, but the latter soon played a trick and replaced dripping blood with dripping water. Meanwhile, the doctor kept telling the prisoner that blood ran out of his body. As soon as the prisoner was told that all his blood had run out, he died.89 At the end of his arguments Ricci tries to link Chinese divinations with Christian belief. He says that practices in the past were to determine one out of two good options, but contemporary people manipulate divinations to gain good fortune and avoid misfortune. The former matches the moral standard of ancient people, but the latter clearly violates the first Commandment of the Lord of Heaven.90 This distinction, as a creative reinterpretation of past and present practices, continues the same strategic division between classical Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism seen in Tianzhu shiyi. By recovering truths from ancient China and fusing them into Christian doctrines, Ricci attempts to build up an identity of the Western other that is compatible in certain aspects with the Chinese self, yet on the other hand, retains its distinct otherness. As we will see later, when Aleni in Kouduo richao discusses the same subject, he takes a very different approach. First of all, he uses his knowledge of Western astronomy, especially Aristotelian natural philosophy, to explain the falling of a star as a natural phenomenon, not a divinable omen. To convince the Chinese scholars who are indecisive on this issue, Aleni further develops substantial arguments, often quoting from Confucian classics on the retribution of good and evil and the falsehood of astrologic divinations when checked against the late Ming political reality. Unlike Ricci’s keen focus on morality, Aleni’s method is a composite one. The difference clearly shows that, even though the late Ming Jesuits consented to the accommodation strategy, the dynamics of dialogue enabled them to represent the self–other complex from different angles. The diversi-

88

JRSP, pp. 260-263.

89

Ibid., pp. 268-269.

90

Ibid., pp. 270-271.

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ty in a dialogic encounter was exactly what they needed to build up the allinclusive Tianxue. Another aspect of Ricci’s particular approach can be revealed in the overall structure of his Jiren shipian. It is divided into ten chapters according to ten specific subjects. For each subject, Ricci develops prolonged arguments and offers as many moralistic sayings and stories as possible, both from European and Chinese sources. The conversations largely proceed not through an active exchange of diverse voices, but through a display of Ricci’s dominant voice. Each chapter, therefore, looks like a treatise rather than a dialogue. Though Ricci compiled it on the basis of real talks between him and the Chinese, his lengthy arguments on the given themes impress us as a predetermined space re-created by Ricci, the author of a written dialogue, not a flexible space created by Ricci, the protagonist (“I”), and the Chinese interlocutors in a real dialogue. Despite his didactic intention and dominant voice, Ricci in Jiren shipian claims a new identity as the Western other. He assumes the first person “I,” who calls himself jiren (extraordinary man). The term jiren originates from the Daoist classic Zhuangzi, but is used in an imaginary Confucian dialogue between Confucius and his disciple Zigong. When Zigong asks for the meaning of jiren, the Master answers that, “Jiren [the extraordinary man] is extraordinary to the other men and yet equal to Heaven.”91 Because it does not appear in the Confucian classics, jiren does not look like a legitimate Confucian identity. However, this name based on a Daoist ideal to transcend the mundane world and embrace nature is similar to a Confucian sage in harmony with the Way (Dao), or the Mandate of Heaven (Tianming 天命) and free from all secular concerns. The closeness might have had increased visibility in the late Ming, when a trend of intellectual synthesis between Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism took place. More strikingly, some of the late Ming Neo-Confucians, either cynical about a declining sociopolitical environment or dissatisfied with the hollow moral stances of their peers, showed off certain eccentric ideas and conduct which might be characterized by the term ji (extraordinary).92 In the biography of Hu Zhi 胡直 (1517–1585), he was said to call himself jishi 畸士 (extraordinary scholar) in face of slander from other Confucians.93 Ricci’s attempt to borrow the term jiren and use it for a missionary purpose seemed bold, because unlike one eccentric Confucian who could show his other91

See Watson 1996, p. 84. The translation is my own, because part of Watson’s translation (e.g., “singular man” and “companion”) does not sound precise to me.

92

A good example of this type of eccentric Neo-Confucian is Li Zhi 李贄, who shaved his head, dressed like a monk, but hung a picture of Confucius in the Buddhist temple he lived. His relativistic thought and emphasis on spontaneous nature aimed to counteract other Confucian hypocrites who engaged in discourses about fame and wealth. Li’s offensive writings and undisciplined conduct finally incurred his arrest. He committed suicide during the detention. For Li’s life, see DMB, vol. 1, pp. 807-818. For Li’s thought, see Peterson 1998, pp. 745-754; de Bary 1970, pp. 188-222.

93

See Mingru xue’an, vol. 1, p. 528.

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ness within Chinese society, Ricci had to show his otherness from without. Nonetheless, this did not stop Ricci from making a subtle, creative reinterpretation of jiren, which indeed won the favor of Confucian converts and sympathetic scholar-officials. In his preface to Jiren shipian, Li Zhizao remarks on his changing impressions about Ricci’s identity. He first calls Ricci a yiren 異人 (strange man), because he came from a remote country and has survived all dangers and hardships on the voyage. Then Li calls Ricci a duxing ren 獨行人 (solitary man), mainly due to his spiritual devotion and celibacy. Given Ricci’s erudite knowledge in astronomy, geography, and mathematics, Li further calls him a bowen you daoshu zhi ren 博聞有道術之人 (an erudite man who has magic skills). After years of learning from Ricci, Li admires him as a zhiren 至人 (perfect man), who is in search for harmony between Heaven and man.94 This impression of a Chinese scholar confirms how insightful it was for Ricci to use jiren, a traditional Chinese term, to construct his identity as the other inside a Chinese context. This way all suspicions of his practical, ethical, and spiritual knowledge were wrong and irrational, since the Tianxue was no more than an alternative way to reach the ultimate truth, which had been lost in China and now needed to be revived by responsible “scholars” like Li. With an implicitly syncretistic identity, Ricci outlines a variety of moral codes, for example, more action than speech and self-reflection, as virtues applicable to both a Confucian and a Christian.95 In addition to thematic choice and identity formation, the ways by which Ricci sets the context for Jiren shipian also deserve our attention. The dialogic work seems to draw examples and arguments from some European sources.96 However, it is structured on the basis of Ricci’s conversations with Chinese officials and literati. By giving specific names or official titles in the first eight chapters, Ricci turns this work into a set of communicational events without any clear record of time.97 Six Chinese scholars can be identified: Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, Li Dai 李 戴 (ca. 1531–1607), Feng Qi 馮琦 (1558–1603), Cao Yubian 曹與汴 (1558– 1634), and Gong Daoli 龔道立.98 In the last two chapters, two more scholars are mentioned but without a clear identity: One is surnamed Guo from Shaoyang 韶 陽 and the other is a friend of Ricci in Nanzhong 南中. A closer look at the chapters reveals how Ricci skillfully makes use of the dialogue form to construct these communicational events. At the beginning of each chapter, Ricci briefly notes the occasion in which a central topic arises, for example, Christian fasting vs. Buddhist fasting in a banquet offered by Li Zhizao.99 94

JRSP, pp. 101-103.

95

Ibid., pp. 175-196, 207-214.

96

Spalatin 1975, pp. 551-557.

97

Except in chapter eight of Jiren shipian, where Ricci notes the time of his talk with Gong Daoli. It was in 1605. See JRSP, p. 215.

98

HCC 1, p. 475.

99

JRSP, p. 197.

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At the end of a chapter, Ricci puts down positive comments from the Chinese interlocutors, and in a few occasions, he adds his own remarks or narratives. For instance, Ricci informs us about what happens after Guo hears his lecture on the falsehood of divination. The man achieves “great enlightenment” and thanks Ricci for “regenerating” his life. Ricci then leads him to an altar, kneeling before it to thank the Lord of Heaven. He further warns Guo not to listen to the divinatory theories and suggests that he wait for the true mandate from the Lord of Heaven with a right mind. It turns out that Guo does not die at the time foretold by the diviner. On the contrary, he lives a much longer life and even bears a son in his old age.100 This contextual setting embedded in a dialogic form reminds us of many similar espisodes in Kouduo richao, except that Ricci shows no effort to use it consistently. Ricci’s exposure of the real names of prestigious interlocutors can lead us to another issue. Coming out of the legacy of Cinquecento Italy, he must have been familiar with this strategy which is a key feature of Renaissance dialogues, especially those by the well-known courtier writers Baldassare Castiglione (1478– 1529) and Bernardo Tasso (1493–1569). As Cox points out, “[T]he choice of prestigious interlocutors for a dialogue has two distinct, though associated functions: the first, already dealt with, to oil the wheels of the writer’s real or hopedfor social relations, and the second, to establish the social and intellectual credentials of the work.” 101 The same view seems to be applicable to Ricci’s Jiren shipian as well. On the one hand, Ricci intends to set up a network with both court and local officials in the Ming government, making use of the latter’s administrative and cultural influences to propagate the Christian religion in China. To identify these pro-Christian officials in his dialogue is an ideal instrument to strengthen desirable public relations. On the other hand, the didactic value of Jiren shipian can be affirmed from the positive comments made by the officials. Their conversations with this Western jiren, a man of moral perfection, serve as the best advertisement for Christianity and Confucianism. As we shall see, the practical concern also inspires Aleni and his convert disciples in Fujian to use real names in their dialogues. It may be considered part of the Jesuits’ strategy of adaptation, but this strategy is now being carried out by means of the dialogue form. 1.3.3. Da Rocha’s Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng

Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng 天主聖教啟蒙 (Rudiments on the Holy Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven, 1619), written by João da Rocha (Luo Ruwang 羅如望, 1565– 1623), was one of the earliest Christian catechisms translated into Chinese in the late Ming. Compared to the dialogues discussed above, this work has several distinct generic features. First, it looks like a “monologic” work in the disguise of a dialogue between a shi 師 (teacher, i.e., priest) and a xue 學 (student, i.e., 100

JRSP, pp. 271-272.

101

Cox 1992, p. 36.

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catechumen). The priest raises all questions, while the answers given by the catechumen are what the priest can expect. In the first chapter on Christian identity, for example, it records: Priest: What does “Christian” mean? Catechumen: It means that one believes in one’s heart and admits by one’s mouth the doctrines of Jesus Christ. Priest: What does it mean to believing in one’s heart and admit by one’s mouth the doctrines of Jesus Christ? Catechumen: Being a Christian one not only must believe in his inner heart, but one also at times must admit that “I’m a Christian.” Even if he sacrifices his body and loses his life, he will rather die than deny it. Priest: Where does your name “Christian” come from? Catechumen: From Christ. Priest: Do you know who Christ is? Catechumen: Yes. He is truly the Lord of Heaven and yet truly a human. Priest: How come he is truly the Lord of Heaven? Catechumen: Because he is the only true son of the almighty Lord of Heaven, Badele [i.e. Pater]. Priest: How come he is truly a human? Catechumen: Because he is the only true son of the Virgin Mary, our maternal patron. Therefore, I say he simply is the Lord of Heaven, but has no mother in heaven; I say he simply is a man, but has no father on earth.102

It seems that the pedagogic function leaves very limited space for the catechumen to create his own (re)interpretations of a given topic, for his answers have already been predetermined. The voice of the catechumen is equal to the voice of the priest. As a result, their conversations are better characterized by a responsive than an interactive pattern. Second, in addition to the clear thematic division of thirteen chapters, da Rocha adopts a novel print device not seen in the previously discussed dialogues. Since the exchanges between the priest and the catechumen are short utterances throughout the dialogue, da Rocha uses two imprinted Chinese characters – shi and xue – to indicate the opening of a speech by the priest or the catechumen. These two characters are white woodcuts in black squares, a technique from traditional Chinese engraving. In so doing, da Rocha visually transforms the original European print layout into a Chinese one. The original European model for da Rocha’s work may possibly be Doutrina cristã (or Cartilha, 1566), a catechism by Marcos Jorge (1524–1571) and widely diffused by Portuguese missionaries around the world. 103 The most important 102

TZSJQM, pp. 379-380.

103

HCC 1, p. 611. Elisabetta Corsi also mentions this in her review of Albert Chan’s Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome. See Corsi 2003, p. 330.

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function of a catechism is to introduce basic Christian doctrines to the uneducated or the heathens. No wonder in Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng the catechumen calls himself a tongmeng 童蒙, an ignorant child. This is an intentional device for identity construction. Additionally, da Rocha allows the two interlocutors to speak in colloquial language, but not scholarly language, which likewise affirms his intended readership among the least educated Chinese: children, commoners, and women. It is not at all surprising that catechetical works constitute the majority in late Ming Christian dialogues.104 This subgenre not only proves the flexible missionary strategies of the Jesuits through publications, but in its own right it also displays the mechanism of dialogue in constructing a cultural identity to fit a reader’s needs. Though the Christian doctrines introduced in Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng seem to be taken from a European source, da Rocha develops some of his own arguments to criticize numerous improper ideas and practices among late Ming Chinese, such as the equation of yanima 亞尼瑪 (i.e., anima) with qi (i.e., vital force), sacrifice and paper money in ancestral worship, and the use of Daoist and Buddhist spells to summon the soul of a dead parent.105 Unfortunately, confined by the rudimentary use of his catechism, da Rocha does not elaborate these arguments in detail. The tongmeng identity suggests that the catechumen cannot talk like a Confucian scholar, who takes an equal position in the conversations and responds to the challenges from the other with well-thought arguments. As a matter of fact, this artificial question-and-answer form was quite common among two categories of late Ming Christian catechetical texts: fundamental doctrines and liturgical manuals. A few of Aleni’s works, such as Dizui zhenggui 滌罪正規 (Proper Rules to Cleanse Sins, ca. 1627) and Shengti yaoli 聖體要理 (Compendium of the Eucharist, 1644), also belong to these categories. They adopt the question-and-answer form to help solve puzzles frequently asked by the neophytes or catechumen. Though the priest-catechumen dialogue looks similar to the master-disciple exchange seen in Kouduo richao, the two types are fundamentally different: one tends to be doctrinal with limited room for free thought, whereas the other tends to be intellectual with more room for open discussions. 1.3.4. Dialogic Texts Written by Chinese Converts

Inspired by the Jesuits’ dialogic works, early Chinese converts in the late Ming began to create their own works in a dialogic form, some catechetical by nature and others apologetic. These dialogues, mostly written by reputed converts before 1640, became an extended part of the Christian enterprise in China. They not only affirmed the Jesuits’ missionary achievements in the first few decades of the 17th century, but also increased the complexity of the self–other paradox in a dialogic encounter: the voices were delivered by the local Chinese people (self) who meanwhile claimed themselves as Christian converts (other). In this stage we 104

HCC 1, pp. 608-616.

105

TZSJQM, pp. 510-514.

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see how finitude, openness, and creativity continue to be embodied in the trajectory from dialogue to the dialogic. Moreover, in supporting the Jesuits’ Tianxue, dialogues created by converts from the upper class and the high echelon of Confucian elite propelled a strong wave that may have influenced the compilation of Kouduo richao, a collaborative work made by lesser-known scholars from the Fujian Catholic communities. Among the influential Chinese converts, Yang Tingyun played a key role in defending Christianity against Buddhism, to which he adhered before his conversion. Yang, Xu Guangqi, and Li Zhizao were called the “Three Pillars of the Holy Doctrine” in late Ming China. 106 Nonetheless, their approaches to the Tianxue differed strikingly. Xu’s conversion happened when he took the civil service examinations. Through close contacts with Ricci in Beijing and da Rocha in Nanjing, Xu was fully convinced by their broad knowledge that included “investigation of things and exhaustion of principles” as the trivial part and “cultivation of one’s self and service to Heaven” as the great part.107 Hence, the Tianxue in his mind was a perfect means to complement Confucian teaching and remove the delusive teachings promoted by Buddhism and Daoism. Meanwhile, it took Li Zhizao ten years to become a convert. He was first attracted by Ricci’s presentation of a Western world map. His collaboration with Ricci to translate and publish a series of works on mathematics, astronomy, and geography were motivated solely by his sincere search for practical knowledge from the other culture. Years later, Li was finally moved by the moral and spiritual character of Ricci, whom he praised as a zhiren (perfect man).108 He requested baptism right before Ricci’s death in 1610.109 Yang Tingyun converted to the Christian religion in a way different from both Xu and Li. He was very disappointed by the pervasive moral decay in late Ming society before he found absolute truth bestowed by the Lord of Heaven. Yang’s interest in Christianity began in 1611 when he met Lazzaro Cattaneo (Guo Jujing 郭居靜, 1560–1640) and Nicolas Trigault (Jin Nige 金尼閣, 1577–1628), with whom he engaged in serious discussions on moral and spiritual learning. As soon as he was convinced that the Tianxue could complement Confucianism on both theoretical and practical levels, Yang abandoned the Buddhist teachings that he had previously accepted and received baptism. Yang’s devotion was so resolute that he starved himself in order to persuade his mother, a pious Buddhist laywoman, to convert to Christianity. 110 As we shall see later, Yang became the most important patron of Aleni and his confreres in the Hangzhou mission from 1615 to 1625.

106

Fang Hao 1988, p. 99.

107

Xu Guangqi, “Ke Jihe yuanben xu,” in Wang Zhongmin 1963, p. 75.

108

JRSP, p. 103.

109

Fang Hao 1966, pp. 19-30.

110

Yang Qiyuan xiansheng chaoxing shiji, pp. 217-223. See also Peterson 1988, pp. 130-137.

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While Xu and Li focused on scientific knowledge in the Tianxue, Yang paid more attention to its moral and spiritual aspects. This can be verified in his many Christian writings, including Shengshui jiyan 聖水紀言 (Recorded Words [in the Church] of the Holy Water, ca. 1617), Tian–Shi mingbian 天釋明辨 (Clear Discussion on Heaven [Christianity] and Buddhism, 1621), and Daiyi pian 代疑篇 (Treatise to Supplant Doubts, 1621), which are more or less structured in a certain dialogue form. 111 Yang’s view on the Tianxue was no different from that of Xu or Li. They all considered Christianity a favourable complement of Confucianism and an effective weapon to fight against Buddhism and Daoism. In the apologetic works of Yang, he sought to establish “Neo-Confucian–Christian Orthodoxy” by way of creative reinterpretations of Christian doctrines.112 In Shengshui jiyan, Yang Tingyun is recorded to have engaged in conversations that lasted for days with a Confucian scholar surnamed Yuan. The narrator Sun Xueshi 孫學詩, likely a silent participant in their conversations, gives two symbolic names to Yang and Yuan: Duowenzi 多聞子 (Master Erudition) for Yuan and Wuzhizi 無知子 (Master Ignorance) for Yang. At the beginning, the dialogue reads, “In a meeting at the Holy Water [Church] in Wulin 武林 (i.e., Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province), Master Yuan has an extensive knowledge of Buddhist scriptures, so people call him Duowen. Master Yang silently holds emptiness and claims to be Wuzhi. They intensely discuss with each other for days. Their [exchanges of] sharp words are so fast that I cannot record them completely. I thus recount them in general like this.” 113 The brief introduction, though without a date, serves as a prologue which sets up the conversational context. The reader may even sense a playful, if not satirical, overtone in Sun’s unusual identification of the two interlocutors. Duowenzi assumes the voice of a conservative Confucian who is sympathetic to Buddhism. On the contrary, Wuzhizi is not “ignorant” when he demonstrates that the Westerners are devoted to a learning of jingtian 敬天 (reverence to heaven), similar to that of the ancient sages in China. Nor does he hold “emptiness” when he criticizes specious Buddhist practices. At the end, Duowenzi appears to be won over by Wuzhizi. He “looks worried, uneasy, and disquieted, as if he has lost [his mind]. He recedes from the table and apologizes with a modest tone, ‘My words are truly shallow. It is what is called “using the belly of a small man to estimate the heart of a gentleman.” I know my faults. I wish through you I could meet the men [i.e., Jesuits], listen to their teachings, and be their lifelong disciple.’”114 Dramatic as it sounds, an ending like this apparently symbolizes the victory of Chinese converts in defending themselves against those suspicious Confucians and rivaling Buddhists. The dia-

111

Standaert 1988, pp. 69-71.

112

Ibid., pp. 53-60; Sun Shangyang 1994, pp. 200-216.

113

SSJY, p. 13.

114

Ibid., p. 30.

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logue itself constructs another type of self–other paradox on top of the one carried out dialogically between the Jesuits and the Chinese. In Tian–Shi mingbian, however, Yang Tingyun concentrates instead on philosophical reasoning. This is a dialogue between two unnamed interlocutors. One clearly represents the side of tian, that is, Christianity, while the other is ambiguous in terms of his identity. In most places, he acts as an unbiased inquirer who simply requests the other interlocutor to explain the differences between Buddhist ideas and corresponding Christian ones. Only in a casual manner does he express mild sympathy to Buddhism, for example, why it matters if a person worships Buddha together with the Lord of Heaven.115 Moreover, Yang employs a unique pattern of thematic arrangement in Tian–Shi mingbian. There are a total of thirty sections. In the opening section, titled “Yuanjiao” 原教 (Examination of the Teachings), the pro-Christian interlocutor first explains why native Daoism could not defeat Buddhism, a foreign religion originated from India. He then points out the central argument that pervades the following twenty-nine sections: Buddhism is a distorted, vulgar imitation of the Tianxue.116 Accordingly, each of the twentynine sections focuses on an established Buddhist term. In every case, the pro-Christian interlocutor argues how a given term resembles a certain Christian idea on the surface level, but in essence is totally different. For example, Guanyin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion appears to be a faulty imitation of Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus. While Guanyin has the absolute power to save all creatures from suffering, the Virgin Mary with the same compassion can only appeal to the authority of the Lord of Heaven to grant man’s salvation.117 In other words, Guanyin greedily usurps the supreme position for a selfish purpose. Few other Christian dialogues during the late Ming have effectively developed such a creative vision into a thematic unity. By denigrating Buddhism (other) as the inferior imitator and promoting Christianity (self ) as the superior authority, Yang Tingyun advances towards a dialogic formation of the Christian identity. This further explains why Yang is highly praised by Zhang Geng 張賡 (1570–1646), a leading scholar convert from Quanzhou 泉州. In a preface to Tian–Shi mingbian, Zhang claims that scholars like Xu Guangqi and Yang Tingyun, having been long deceived by Buddhism, seem quite zealous and resolute after transferring to the Tianxue. 118 Their knowledge of Buddhist concepts and practices allows them to deliver sharper criticisms than those of Ruggieri, Ricci, and other Jesuits. As a result, they create a collective voice, which Aleni and Fujian converts further strengthen with their attacks on the “evil” teachings of Buddhism in Kouduo richao. Though Buddhism is still the main target in Yang Tingyun’s Daiyi pian, this work treats a series of moral, spiritual, intellectual, and ideological topics. It 115

TSMB, p. 260.

116

Ibid., pp. 242-246.

117

Ibid., pp. 283-286.

118

Ibid., pp. 233-236.

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records conversations between an unnamed Daru 大儒 (renowned scholar), and the hermit Mige 彌格, which is a Chinese transliteration of Michele, Yang’s Christian name. The two interlocutors start with a discussion on the conflicts between doubt and faith: Daru lists twenty-four fallacies concerning the Jesuits’ Tianxue, their personal life and liturgical practices, and their real motive to come to the “Middle Kingdom.” In response, Mige makes it clear that faith must originate from the omnipotent Lord of Heaven, and more visibly, those Western “Confucian” scholars continue to hold their extraordinary ( ji 畸) virtues despite numerous doubts and slanders from the Chinese.119 The two opposing voices in this beginning section therefore set up a clear dialogic context. It not only opens up a chain of conversations between a Confucian-Buddhist and a Christian– Confucian, but it also presents all twenty-four themes to be discussed in the dialogue form. Despite their different formal features, the three works above show how Yang Tingyun reinterprets Christianity, Confucianism, and Buddhism by means of creative understanding. For example, as far as Heaven and Hell are concerned, Yang first of all insists that the terms have their Christian origin in the West, not in India. In fact, Ruggieri in Tianzhu shilu introduces the four-level locations where a man’s soul goes after death: yinfunuo 咽咈諾 (inferno), linmo 臨膜 (limbus), bugeduolüe 不 革 多 略 (purgatorio) and balayisuo 罷 辣 依 所 (paradiso).120 Da Rocha in Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng likewise presents a general explanation on the four layers of Hell – the bottom layer for devils and evil men, the second layer for the blessed ones with small sins to be purged, the third layer for souls of children who die early without receiving the Holy Water, and the final layer for the ancient saints (i.e., the pre-Christian patriarchs) who deserve to ascend to Heaven. However, only the term limbus as lingbo 靈薄 is directly transliterated.121 The terms may look awkward, but they are evidence for Yang to prove a European linguistic origin of Heaven and Hell. Not surprisingly, the proChristian interlocutor in Tian–Shi mingbian claims that though tiantang (paradise) and diyu (Hell) in Buddhism are similar to balayisuo (paradiso) and yinfu’ernuo 因弗耳諾 (inferno) in Christianity, they are in essence very different. The Buddhists borrowed the Christian concepts of Heaven and Hell and further spread their teachings on the afterlife in China. 122 Another related term reincarnation (saṃsāra, lunhui 輪迴) is also said to have derived from the Western thinker 119

DYP, pp. 495-502.

120

TZSL, pp. 47-51.

121

TZSJQM, pp. 433-436. In Kouduo richao, Aleni also mentions twice the term limbus with Chinese translations – lengbo 冷博 and lingbo 領薄, a result of two different records by different converts at different occasions. See KDRC, vol. 1, pp. 270, 438. In medieval theology, limbus can be divided into limbus puerorum (limbo of children) and limbus patrum (limbo of fathers), which roughly match the last two layers of da Rocha’s description of Hell. See Standaert 1988, p. 131, fn. 98.

122

TSMB, pp. 246-247.

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Pythagoras (Bitawola 閉他臥剌, 580–500 B.C.E.). This claim echoes Ricci’s earlier arguments in his Tianzhu shiyi and Jiren shipian.123 Yang’s next step is to connect the ideas of Heaven and Hell with moral cultivation, the key concern of Confucianism. In Tian–Shi mingbian, he writes: The teaching of Heaven says that when the Master of Heaven created the world, he divided it into three levels: The highest domain is the balayisuo 罷 辣依瑣, now called the “Heavenly Kingdom,” which is the place of ten thousand blessings and the place where the Great Master, Heavenly Spirits and Saints reside. The lowest domain is yinfu’ernuo 因弗耳諾, so called “Hell,” which is a place of ten thousand calamities and a place where the devils and sinful people reside. The middle domain is mengduo 蒙 鐸 (mundo), now called the “human world,” which is a place where blessings and calamities exist side by side and where men, animals, and plants reside. The highest and lowest domains are places where good and evil have been determined. The middle domain is the place where good and evil are not yet determined. Because they are not yet determined, one exerts oneself and cultivates oneself, thus making a change in the twinkling of an eye with cultivation or violation. Because they are already determined [in Heaven and Hell], one receives happiness or bitterness that, regardless of any exertion or cultivation, will never change in ten thousand years.124

As we see from this classification, man in this world is able to do either good or evil, which may end up with blessings or calamities in the afterlife. In other words, man has free will to make his own choices between good and evil. The same argument is further developed in Daiyi pian. After criticizing the Buddhist concept of reincarnation, the hermit Mige describes the three levels of heaven earth, and hell, i.e., the purest and most graceful place on the top, the most horrible and gloomiest place at the bottom, and a mixture of the two in the middle. He then argues: The two levels above and below are places of the determined [happiness and calamity], while the place in the middle is a place for the undetermined for it may either ascend or descend. Why so? Man has an intelligent nature that tends toward Heaven, and he has a body that tends toward earth. Moreover, man is able to act on his own: to become a sage or a worthy man depends on him, while to become a bird or an animal also depends on him. The Lord of Heaven especially sets up this domain and waits for man’s self-cultivation. It is thus called undetermined.125

123

TSMB, pp. 286-289; DYP, p. 515. For Ricci’s claim and his transliteration, see TCSI, pp. 240-241; JRSP, p. 240. For Pythagoras’ theory, see Standaert 1988, p. 137, fn. 118; Guthrie 1962–1965, vol. 1, p. 186.

124

TSMB, pp. 248-249. I use Standaert’s translation with a few changes. See Standaert 1988, pp. 133-134.

125

DYP, pp. 516-517. I use Standaert’s translation with some changes. See Standaert 1988, p. 138.

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To Yang, spiritual cultivation in a Christian sense and moral cultivation in a Confucian sense have a common ground in differentiating the soul from flesh, intelligence from ignorance, and a sage from an animal. With this argument he intends to reinterpret the old concept of retribution in Confucian thought. It is now meaningful both in this life and in the afterlife. Yang also refers to the Jesuits’ practical knowledge of the heavens and the earth to clarify the locations of Heaven and Hell and reject the Buddhist idea of “Pure Land.” In Tian-Shi mingbian, he explains: The teaching of [the Lord of] Heaven says that Heaven is above the Primum Mobile (zongdong tian 宗動天) and Hell is inside the earth. Man carries on the heavens and treads on the earth, so he might either ascend or descend.” However, the Buddhists “falsely claim that the Lord of Heaven lives only in Heaven, where there is still reincarnation. The Buddha has another world in the Western Pure Land, where there is no longer reincarnation. This is to use the words of the Western teaching and rise above it by creating a theory that degrades the [Lord of] Heaven and offers respect to the Buddha. It is a fabrication without substance, so the theory turns out to be ridiculous and false because it is lacking in reasonable evidence.126

As will be discussed later, the Jesuits’ introduction of Western astronomy, especially the theory of heaven and earth, is based on some modified versions of the Aristotelian–Ptolemaic cosmology through the effort of medieval theologians.127 The entanglement of intellectuality and religiosity is now adopted by Yang Tingyun in his apologetic dialogue to defend a Christian self against the Buddhist other. It is not surprising that late Ming Buddhists responded to Yang’s writings with rigorous criticisms.128 Yang’s creativity is also shown in some other important arguments: He addresses the Lord of Heaven as the Great Father–Mother (da fumu 大父母) of all creatures; he believes that human nature is absolutely good, as it is endowed by the Lord of Heaven; and, he argues that there is no conflict between the Catholic commandment of filiality and the celibate life of the Jesuits. These arguments echo the same concerns of Aleni and the Chinese interlocutors in Kouduo richao. Their voices may differ sometimes from those in Yang’s works, but they apparently share one ultimate goal, namely, to form a hybridized Christian–Confucian identity. Another dialogic work, Shengjiao yuanliu 聖教源流 (The Origin and Development of the Holy Doctrine, 1635), also deserves attention. It was published by Joseph Zhu Yupu 朱毓朴 ( fl. 1623), a prince of the Ming royal family, in Kaifeng 開封 (Henan Province).129 It records the dialogues, in a typical questionand-answer pattern, between Zhu and a Western scholar (Xishi), who has been 126

TSMB, p. 253.

127

See Lindberg 1992, pp. 245-280; Standaert 1988, p. 131.

128

Standaert 1988, pp. 225-252.

129

HCC 1, p. 438.

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identified as the Jesuit Rui de Figueiredo (Fei Lede 費 樂 德 , 1594–1642). 130 Compared to the apologetic works of Yang Tingyun, Shengjiao yuanliu has a strong catechetical purpose. It resembles da Rocha’s Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng in several major aspects, including the content (creeds), message transmission (teacher–student), motive (pedagogy), and language of speech (colloquialism). The author of the work is a noble convert, not a Jesuit. This Chinese authorship may suggest a higher level of missionary achievements in the late Ming. In addition, though the normal roles of shi 師 and xue 學 are not specified in this catechetical work, Zhu does use the first person yu 余 (i.e., I) to suggest his role as the catechumen. As to his counterpart, the Western scholar bears the title of the “Teacher to Instruct the Holy Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven” (chuanshou Tianzhu shengjiao xiansheng 傳 授 天 主 聖 教 先 生 ). This honorific title of xiansheng may also be seen in other late Ming writings by Confucian converts, including Kouduo richao. It appears that the Jesuits gradually adapted to Confucian thought and further exerted influence by collaborating with Confucian converts in forming a hybrid Christian-Chinese identity. The process highlighted dialogue as an effective medium to incorporate the diverse, changing voices of both self and other. Zhu Yupu in his preface and introductory notes says that the fundamental Christian doctrines taught by the Western “Master” are based on real talks with slight revision. However, the four-volume work with clear-cut thematic divisions is so elaborately conceived that one has to doubt Zhu’s own words. It presents a smooth flow of topics from the canons of the Faith, the Lord of Heaven, the Sacred Mother, and the Holy Cross, to the Ten Commandments, to Church rules for mass and fasting, and finally, to the Seven Sacraments. It sounds impossible for the interlocutors to follow such a strict order in a realistic dialogic context. Therefore, the work is to be read as an organized, written dialogue, not a reported conversation. Compared to the dialogic works discussed above, Shengjiao yuanliu is distinctive for its systematic pedagogy of Christianity. The same subjects, such as Hell, filiality, and marriage, are interpreted, yet often with quite different arguments. For example, Hell is also explained to have four layers as seen in da Rocha’s Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng. 131 However, Zhu Yupu brings forth two interesting terms to categorize different kinds of people: benzui 本 罪 (natural sin) and yuanzui 原罪 (original sin). While the former is not found among children and saints, the latter is applicable to all humans. This distinction looks both subtle and original. Zhu also shows confidence in his use of the Chinese word linghun 靈魂 to refer to the human soul, instead of da Rocha’s awkward transliteration yanima 亞尼瑪 (i.e., anima). Moreover, his explanation on the fourth layer of Hell clarifies why it is often dismissed by the other Jesuits, for example, Ruggieri in his Tianzhu shilu. Zhu records: 130

HCC 1; Pfister 1932–1934, pp. 158-160.

131

Shengjiao yuanliu, pp. 20-23.

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CHAPTER ONE Question: What is the fourth layer? Answer: The Hell for ancient saints. Question: Who goes down to this Hell? Answer: At that time, when the Lord of Heaven was not yet born, the door to Heaven was not open. To every virtuous person who worshiped the Lord of Heaven and acted according to the commandments set at his time, the Lord of Heaven pardoned his sins but did not allow him to ascend to Heaven. He ordered him temporarily to go down to this place. As soon as the soul of Jesus left His body, it descended to this Hell. Question: What did Jesus’ soul do to descend to this layer of Hell? Answer: To gather the souls of the ancient saints and reward them by ascending to Heaven together with him. Hence, there is not such a layer of Hell at present. It is said so in the canons.132

The final answer, brief as it looks, is very important. When considering this subject, the converts often wondered whether ancient Chinese sages, such as Yao and Shun, King Wen of Zhou, and Confucius, had met the same fate as dictated in the Catholic canons. It was also a sensitive issue for the Jesuits to handle in the late Ming context. Kouduo richao, for example, records several occasions where Aleni is challenged by non-believers on polygamy or concubinage, a practice commonly seen among Chinese sage-kings and emperors but considered a serious violation of the Catholic doctrine on marriage. Not only does Shengjiao yuanliu give an organized introduction to Christian doctrines, but it also employs a special print layout intended to aid its readers, in particular those with lesser education. As discussed before, Kouduo richao has a well-designed layout: a line with one character higher than the other lines in the text marks the shift of conversational topics. Shengjiao yuanliu has a similar layout, except that the protruding character is always wen (question). There is no use of time-space identifiers as in Kouduo richao, but the text is engraved with three distinct fonts: a small font for the two characters wen 問 (question) and yue 曰 (answer), a midsize font for the regular text, and a big font for important sentences translated from Christian canons. Words from these sentences sometimes are quoted separately with rectangular frames. To a certain extent, this dialogue is intentionally made into an object which attracts the visual attention of a reader. The eye-catching layouts in Shengjiao qimeng and other Christian dialogues seem to indicate that the flourishing printing industry in the late Ming played an important role not only in circulating of the thoughts of Tianxue but also in its improved technical capability to involve the reading public. Printing became an indispensable factor, both in a material sense and a social sense, that affected the way a Christian dialogue was presented and the way it was read.

132

Shengjiao yuanliu, p. 23.

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1.3.5. From Inferior to Superior: Changing Jesuits’ Identities as the Other

These dialogues above are just part of the Christian dialogic literature during the late Ming. However, they seem sufficient to track the changing identities of the Jesuits over a span of fifty years in their China missions. The problematic seng (monk) identity was a key reason that Ruggieri and Cobo encountered great difficulties in their early years of missionary work spreading Christian beliefs by means of dialogue. Due to the dubious Buddhist identity, Ruggieri’s attack on Buddhism and his rigid transcription of foreign terms caused more confusion and suspicion. As a result, his argument for the superiority of the “Holy Doctrine” of the Lord of Heaven sounded forced and lacked persuasive power. Cobo echoes Ruggieri’s Buddhist identity in his Zhenchuan shilu. He calls himself a sengshi (monk master), yet he shows a strong intention to appropriate Confucianism to spread the Tianxue on the one hand, and attack Buddhism on the other. His intellectual taste and adaptation strategy were strikingly similar to what Ricci and his confreres did in China at about the same time. However, the practice of assuming the dubious Buddhist identity did not vanish completely. Ricci made a breakthrough in his works by adopting the new identity of Xishi (scholar from the West). This change allowed him to speak in a position equal to a Confucian scholar in late Ming society. In Tianzhu shiyi, Ricci even adopts some key concepts from the Confucian Classics to justify the Christian faith and attack native religions such as Buddhism and Daoism. As an intellectual who worships both tian (Heaven) and Tianzhu (Lord of Heaven) in the same way as ancient Confucians had done, Ricci depicts his Xishi identity as a legitimate successor of Confucian orthodoxy opposing the superficial or erroneous theories promoted by the Song–Ming Neo-Confucians. Meanwhile, Ricci’s stance of “compatible but not identical” is represented by the alternative identity of the other stressed in Jiren shipian. The expression jiren (extraordinary man) derives from Chinese texts, but it is used strategically by Ricci in a new situation. The Tianxue, though doubted and criticized by many, was promoted by the extraordinary man from the West as a path to the ultimate truth that has long been lost in China. By assuming the identity of a jiren, Ricci took care to address the Confucian elite in his work, thus creating close connections with them and advertising the Christian–Confucian form of self-cultivation. Following Ricci, da Rocha adopted the same shi identity in Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng. Though there is no explicit equation between himself and the shi character, the catechetical pattern of the work naturally leads the readers to presume a distinction between the superior Christian teacher (other) and the inferior Chinese student (self ). In addition to the Jesuits’ works, dialogic texts written by Chinese converts also played a role in the dynamic self–other exchange in the late Ming encounter. Scholar converts such as Li Zhizao and Yang Tingyun set up exemplary roles to identify themselves with the Christian other in confrontation with the nonbelievers. In his apologetic writings, Yang attempts to defend the Tianxue against the critique of non-Christian scholars and rivaling Buddhists. By attacking Bud-

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dhism as an inferior teaching and imitation of Catholic theology, which to him was the true and original authority, Yang consciously rebuilt a new Christian identity. His equation of many Christian and Confucian norms apparently echoes the Jesuits’ missionary approach, i.e., a gradual promotion of the Christian other by way of dialogic hybridization. The dialogue by Zhu Yupu also indicates a collaborative effort to promote the Christian other. Despite his noble background, Zhu speaks in the voice of a catechumen and respectfully calls the Western scholar xiansheng. 133 As discussed before, the honorific term duode contains etymological hints to highlight the Jesuits’ admirable role as a Catholic priest. Likewise, the term xiansheng offers additional evidence for their upgraded identity as a teacher in a religious context and as a master in an academic setting. By the end of the Ming dynasty, the Jesuits with the help of Chinese converts gradually transformed their identities as the Christian other from an inferior position to a superior position. The desirable change was realized through a series of dialogic constructions and reconstructions of the self–other paradox that can be found in this flourishing form of Christian dialogues. Of course, this does not mean the emerging Christian other kept the Chinese self in silence. Many converts and sympathetic Confucian scholars rather intended to reinterpret and appropriate the Tianxue according to their own understanding of Confucian thoughts. Moreover, the active promotion of the Christian other may have also provoked increasing suspicion and hostility from those non-believers. As we shall see later, the anti-Christian work Shengchao poxie ji 聖朝破邪集 (Anthology on the Refutation of the Evil [Christian Religion] in the Present Dynasty, 1639) may serve as a good example to show the negative reactions from the Chinese side.

1.4. Why Dialogue? Reality, Symbolism, and Missionary Strategy The analysis above reveals a striking trajectory from dialogue to the dialogic. It should be seen as one of the key factors by which we can reevaluate the Jesuits’ missionary strategy in the late-Ming cultural encounter. Through the analysis of a sequence of Christian dialogic texts in this period we can have a closer look at the dynamic mechanisms of dialogue that facilitate the construction of a changing self–other relation in the interpersonal and intercultural exchanges among the Jesuits and Confucian scholars. Dialogue as a hybrid genre among other literary categories has the natural tendency to integrate diverse voices into a formal unity. Though its informal, episodic style and refraining from embellishment are often stressed in such dialogues as Kouduo richao and Shengjiao yuanliu by converts, there are many factors for dialogists within a given dialogue and the author and the reader outside it 133

The term xiansheng, originally meaning an elder or a teacher, often appears in early Confucian classics, for example, Liji 禮記 (Book of Rites) and Mengzi. Similar usages can also be seen in such Daoist works as the Zhuangzi and the Liezi 列子. The term appeared to have been formally adopted into the Neo-Confucian academia since the Song.

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to realize dialogue as an act of communication. A variety of literary devices are employed. In Kouduo richao, for example, chronotope (i.e., time-space) is consistently used to contextualize a series of conversational events. As a medium of thought, dialogue reveals its essential characteristics – finitude, creativity, and openness. We find in the late Ming Christian dialogic works a self–other paradox that is formed and transformed in the process of creative reinterpretations, tensions, negotiations, appropriation, and frequent change of voices. These aspects lead to a superposition of horizons that betrays the essential hybrid nature of dialogue. Moreover, the changing identities of the Christian other from an inferior role to a superior role may be easily recognized in those dialogic works. Considering the above important cases, we need to go beyond the previous one-sided theoretical frameworks and develop a thorough, practical approach to examine the late Ming intercultural encounter. In the following analysis of the development of interactive communications, we will find abundant evidence to showcase the trend of a dialogic hybridization. The parallel developments of dialogue in China and Europe are conducive factors for an impressive emergence of Christian dialogues in the late Ming period. First of all, the flourishing dialogues in Renaissance Europe and the continuity and evolvement of Confucian intellectual dialogues created a favorable environment for the Jesuits and the Chinese to exchange different opinions. Dialogue as a particular literary genre opens up enough room for them to engage in religious and philosophical discussions. Not only could friends have a debate with each other on a certain topic, but strangers from different cultures could also exchange ideas between the self and the other. This was further energized by late Ming intellectual and religious syncretism and the diminishing impact of state control on the social mentality. In addition, the flourishing printing industry and growing reading public also played a role in the Jesuits’ choice of the dialogue form to highlight their identity as the Christian other. Internal mechanisms of dialogue and external factors in the late Ming encounter together condition the complex trajectory from individual voices to collective voices, from interpersonal negotiations to intercultural exchanges, from substantial meanings to ideological implications, and finally, from dialogue to dialogic hybridization. Modern scholars have developed models such as accommodation and adaptation from the Christian side, or reaction and localization from the Chinese side. These characterizations are insightful, but we need to pay attention to the role of dialogue as a preferred medium among the Jesuits and Confucian scholars. It linked the two sides through a paradoxical self–other relation and enabled them to structure a dialogic hybridization, in which a new cultural and religious identity could take shape.

CHAPTER TWO

Aleni, Fujian Mission, and Kouduo richao In his biography of Giulio Aleni, Li Sixuan, a native of Jianning 建寧, describes a number of admirable achievements of “Master Ai” in preaching and intellectual conversation in the Fujian mission.1 Li writes, The Master’s outward appearance was in every respect impressive; his bearing, “a mild harmony in the face, a rich fullness in the back,” had an enlightening effect on people’s minds. Whenever he talked about the highest way [explaining] its topics and principles in a methodical way, his [modes of speaking] lightly or emphatically, quickly or slowing, and his alternation of speaking and silence, looking and staring, were all naturally in tune [with the subject treated]. When a guest came to the church, [the Master] knew at a glance what was going on in his mind. If someone had a question or an objection, [the Master] knew what he wanted to say even before [the guest] had finished one half of his statement, and he would analyze and elucidate it on behalf of the speaker. [In such cases] they all saw the light, as if the clouds had parted, and in a flash of insight they grasped the meaning. It sometimes happened that people attack him [in debate] in an unreasonable way, so that the bystanders felt uneasy about it, but the Master did not care at all – he would just silently pray to the Lord-on-High to forgive that man for his ignorance.2

It seems natural that Li Sixuan, as a convert, would describe Aleni in a eulogistic manner. He is right to stress Aleni’s professional skills in preaching and scholarly argumentation. The ministry can of course be traced back to Aleni’s humanist and theological learning in Italy. He consciously made use of the knowledge he had acquired to engage in intellectual exchange with Fujian converts, thereby affirming his dual identity as a duode (priest) and a xiansheng (master). The formal consolidation of this identity is vividly shown in the dialogic work Kouduo richao. This chapter examines the Jesuit mission in late Ming Fujian from a historical viewpoint. Following a detailed biographical account of Aleni, I will focus on some leading converts such as Li Jiubiao in Fuqing 福清 and Zhang Geng in Quanzhou, and see how they succeeded in building a network of Catholic communities in Fujian. As Kouduo richao is by nature a collaborative work, aspects such as printing, editorial principles, and thematic priorities and their distribution can show how this unique work was produced together with local converts.

1

Li was baptized in 1641 with the Christian name Stephen, or Dewang 德望 in Chinese. See Zürcher 1997a, pp. 86-87, fn. 4. As for the title of “Confucius from the West,” it is only found in Yesuhui xilai zhuwei xiansheng xingshi, p. 311.

2

SJAXSXJ, pp. 935-936. There is another version of the biography, see XHAXSXL, pp. 245263. Here I quote Zürcher’s translation. See Zürcher 1997a, pp. 122-123.

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2.1. Aleni’s Life and Chinese Works Aleni’s life and mission in China have been well studied. Among those who make efforts in this respect, Eugenio Menegon, Mario Colpo, and Pan Feng-chuan created detailed accounts of Aleni’s life both in Europe and in China. 3 Other scholars, such as Erik Zürcher, Adrian Dudink, Lin Jinshui, and Zhang Xianqing paid much attention to Aleni and his mission works in Fujian.4 In the studies of Lin Jinshui, Bernard Luk and Gianni Criveller, there is a tendency to perceive Aleni’s missionary strategy in line with the adaptation, reception, and inculturation frameworks that have been discussed in the “Introduction.”5 Their findings and arguments in various aspects contribute to a better understanding of Aleni’s mission-in-action. Based on these studies, I intend to present a more comprehensive biographical account of Aleni, yet with two additional concerns: Aleni’s impact on a marginal but significant missionary print culture in late Ming Fujian through his voluminous works in Chinese, and Aleni’s strategic creation of a hybrid Christian–Confucian identity by means of dialogic exchanges. 2.1.1. Childhood to Young Adulthood in Italy (1582–1610)

Aleni was born in 1582. At birth his family had recently moved from the village of Leno to Brescia, Northern Italy. He spent three years studying humanities in the College of Brescia before entering the Jesuit novitiate in Novellara in 1600. Then he went to the College of Parma to study philosophy, a curriculum including logic, physics, metaphysics, and mathematics, from 1602 to 1605. In the next two years, Aleni stayed in the College of Aristocrats in Bologna and taught humanities. In 1607, he was sent to Rome to start theological studies in the Roman College, the center of Jesuit higher education and training of leadership. After his arrival in Rome, Aleni wrote a second letter to Father Claudio Acquaviva (1543-1615), the fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus, and petitioned to be sent to missions in the East or West Indies. Since his expertise on mathematics and astronomy could fulfill the need for transmitting Western sciences in the China mission, Acquaviva approved his earnest request. Aleni went to Portugal to complete his studies at the University of Coimbra. He was ordained there in 1608. On March 23, 1609, Aleni and twenty-three Jesuits embarked the ship Nossa Señhora de Piedade at Lisbon. After nine months, they reached Goa in India.6

3

Menegon 1993, pp. 27-51; also id. 1997, pp. 219-262; Colpo 1997, pp. 73-84; Pan Fengchuan 2002, pp. 41-124.

4

Zürcher 1997a, pp. 85-128; id. 2007, pp. 54-74; Dudink 1997, pp. 129-200; Lin Jinshui 1992, pp. 55-66, 99; id. 1994a, pp. 225-241; and id. 1994b, pp. 78-104. Zhang Xianqing in a recent study discovered new evidence on Aleni’s connections with some previously unnoticed Fujian scholars and officials. See Zhang Xianqing 2015, pp. 87-99.

5

Luk 1977, pp. 159-162; Criveller 1997, pp. 144-352.

6

Colpo 1997, p. 82; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 54-55.

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Aleni’s youth revealed several interesting aspects about his spiritual and disciplinary trainings in the Society of Jesus. Li Sixuan in his biography reports Aleni’s own description of how he entered the Society of Jesus: According to what the Master told the two gentlemen You and Shen, as a youth he had been bent on gaining fame and distinction. As the age of 18 sui, after he had completed his studies, he met a learned man of the Society of Jesus who told him to withdraw in order to practice [self-] investigation, and to come back after seven days for further deliberation. The Master, doing as he was told, pondered deeply, and [finally] he came to full understanding. He immediately sought to enter the Society, as if he could not bear one moment of delay. The learned man was very glad. He stroked his head and said: “You are very talented indeed.” The Master was the youngest among his brothers, and [moreover] he was of very weak constitution. His brothers pitied him, and they all expected him to achieve fame and distinction, [thereby] to generate good fortune for the family. [But] his mother was wise: she allowed him to enter the Society.7

This episode offers some rare information – encouragement of the Jesuit “learned man” (xiushi 修士) and approval of the wise mother – that led Aleni to the turning point of his life. However, Li was not aware of the historical context for Aleni’s change of mind. The second half of the 16th century was a difficult time of tensions and conflicts within Christendom, characterized by the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation of the Roman Catholic Church.8 Many young men as devout as Aleni entered the Society of Jesus, a newly founded order with a strong commitment to defend the Church’s institutional authority and apostolic tradition, as well as to expand its oversea influence by way of missionary works. The order was established by St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) together with his close companions in 1534 and was sanctioned by Pope Paul III (1468–1549) in 1540.9 St. Ignatius was keenly concerned about the ability of a person to achieve spiritual perfection. He responded to the Protestants’ radical denial of fundamental Catholic doctrines (e.g., apostolic tradition, Papal authority, and the Seven Sacraments) with a moderate reform of individual behaviors within the Roman Church. Hence, those who decided to enter the Society had to announce their readiness to profess a special obedience to the pope, the fourth vow in addition to chastity, poverty, and obedience.10 Little wonder the society became a spearhead of the Church’s overseas missions. But the Jesuits in China remained silent about the Catholic–Protestant conflict in Europe. When introducing the West to the 7

SJAXSXJ, p. 933. I use Zürcher’s translation (1997a, p. 119), except for the term xiushi 修 士 that is translated as “sage.” To avoid confusion between xiushi and shengren 聖人, a term referring to sage in a Chinese context, I render the word xiushi as “a learned man.”

8

Collinson 1990, pp. 233-266; Kee 1998, pp. 258-323.

9

Mitchell 1981, pp. 13-46; O’Malley 1993, pp. 23-37.

10

Ibid., p. 55.

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Chinese, Aleni did not mention this great conflict either. If the West was to be introduced as a civilized other equal to China, and Tianxue was to be promoted as a counterpart to the Confucian teaching, Aleni assumed he would fare much better by staying silent about the flaws of the West or Christianity. In this sense, it seems that Aleni only told his converts an incomplete story of his commitment to a religious order. In order to achieve spiritual perfection, St. Ignatius offered in his Exercitia Spiritualia (Spiritual Exercises, 1548) a strict four-week schedule for members of the Society to repeat spiritual meditations. He wrote: “The First Week is devoted to the consideration and contemplation of sins; the Second, to the life of Christ our Lord up to and including Palm Sunday; the Third, to the Passion of Christ our Lord; and the Fourth, to the Resurrection and Ascension.”11 These exercises were put into practice after St. Ignatius finished his years of professional studies and started to train his first disciples.12 His promotion of meditation, examination of conscience, and prayers was recorded both in a Chinese biography by Alfonso Vagnone (Gao Yizhi 高一志, 1566–1640) and in Kouduo richao. In the biography, Vagnone describes that Yinajue 意納爵 (Chinese name for St. Ignatius) led his ascetic life in a monastery. He whipped himself three times a day with an iron chain and prayed for seven shi 時 (two hours equal one shi) without stop. He was so much devoted to meditation that once he fell in a coma for eight days. As soon as he woke up, however, he chanted the holy name of Jesus again.13 In Kouduo richao, Aleni uses St. Ignatius’ example to explain how proper meditation can overcome noxious ideas. When talking with two converts in Fuzhou, he says, Yinajue constantly contemplated on the Lord of Heaven, without even stopping for a moment. [He meditated] many times in a day. If occasionally he stopped for a while, he would blame himself and say, “I am like a beast for not thinking of the Lord of Heaven at this moment.” If we as the ones who learn the Way have the same intention as that of Yinajue, why should we worry about the distraction of improper ideas?14

With such a telling episode, Aleni plainly points out the important role of spiritual meditation in Tianxue. Every Jesuit, including Aleni himself, should follow the Ignatian way of spiritual exercises after entering the Society of Jesus. As trained priests and missionaries, they would introduce the same model to Chinese converts to facilitate their spiritual cultivation. It is interesting to note that Vagnone and Aleni praise Ignatius as shengren 聖 人, a term that may refer to either a “saint” in a Christian sense or a “sage” in a Confucian sense. Of course, this somewhat mixed identity refers to the exemplary deeds of St. Ignatius. Vagnone’s biography records quite a few stories of this 11

Ganss 1992, p. 22.

12

Mitchell 1981, pp. 22-37.

13

Shengren xingshi, in CCT ARSI, vol. 12, pp. 150-151.

14

KDRC, p. 569.

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type. For example, St. Ignatius once jumped into an cold pool to attract the attention of a wicked man, claiming that he was punishing himself to redeem the latter’s sins. The man was thus awakened and in repentance he promised to abandon his previous immoral life. The same story appears in a homily of Aleni in Kouduo richao. He explains two great virtues of St. Ignatius: to glorify the Lord of Heaven instead of his own name and to take any suffering in order to save a man’s soul. The story above is told as an example of the second virtue. However, the flexible dialogic exchange enables Aleni to add his comments according to the context: Sunday (July 31, 1639) worship of St. Ignatius. In general, Aleni says, a shengren is a man with a human body, speech, and action, but in his devotion and cultivation he differs from other men. Only shengren can set up a model for other men to imitate and help them to become aware of the severity of their sins. Once a man by following shengren learns to love himself and love others, he will be close to a stage of perfection.15 As it turns out, through St. Ignatius’ example Aleni not only affirms the Catholic canonization of saints in history, but he also consciously makes the Christian saints comparable to Confucian sages in China. In Kouduo richao, Aleni further introduces to his Chinese converts the rigorous rules for a man to be accepted by a Catholic order in his home country. In a banquet offered by the leading convert Zhang Geng, Aleni explains the requirements of the “Sacred Society” (shenghui 聖會), i.e., the Society of Jesus. He says: In my country the rules for entering a religious society are very strict. Since it is difficult to tell the whole story on the spur of the moment, let me just say something about the first stage of admission. All those who aspire for admission to the Society, even including kings, dukes and members of hereditary noble families, first must be put to the test for two years. At the beginning of that period of probation they still wear their ordinary clothes, but after a certain number of days their original dress is replaced by the religious garb, to show the distinction between the religious and the profane. However, after several months they again remove the religious dress and only wear ragged and patched clothes, in which they have to perform menial tasks like preparing meals in the kitchen, washing dishes, and cleaning vessels. They are obliged to do all that in person, in order to remove the roots of arrogance. When they have done so for more than a year without showing any sign of regret or negligence, they are admitted into the Society, for by that time their vulgar feelings have been destroyed and their religious intention had become firm. After their admittance into the Society they must observe every rule, and one person is charged with strictly [supervising them and] investigating their faults. Of course they do not dare to be guilty of any grave error of commission or omission; in fact not even a single word or deed that deviates from the right principles is allowed to remain hidden. According to the rules they always have their meals together in a hall. In that hall a small table has be set apart, and if one [novice] has committed a fault, at the beginning of the meal the moderator will 15

KDRC, pp. 549-551.

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CHAPTER TWO announce loudly: “Since such-and-such has committed a fault, he is not allowed to share that meal with the others in the hall.” Then the culprit has to take his meal at the small table, without daring to disobey or to argue. Therefore it only rarely happens that persons who have entered the Society transgress the rules.16

To a certain extent, we may take this account as a reflection of Aleni’s own experience as a novice when entering the Society of Jesus. Though he does not mention the common curriculum of the Jesuit colleges in Europe, which grew rapidly during the second half of the 16th century, Aleni does point out what St. Ignatius’ standards required for the Jesuit profession: hierarchical order between the novice and seniors, strict discipline, and constant trials under a censorship.17 Interestingly, these standards are reinterpreted by Zhang in the Chinese context. He says, “Alas, Western scholars [cultivate themselves] like this, which is why there are many virtuous persons among them; we [cultivate ourselves] like this, which is why there are many sinful ones among us.” 18 It is natural for Zhang to make a comparison between Western scholars and Chinese Confucian scholars like him. The superiority of the Western other appears evident in such a master–disciple, or priest–convert, dialogue. Thus it may have been a conscious effort of Aleni to selectively use his personal experience to promote an ideal image of the Catholic Church, despite many not so positive factors of the time, such as clerical corruption, factionalism, and challenges from the Protestants. As we will see later, the same strategy has also been adopted in Aleni’s introductory works on the West, including Zhifang waiji 職方外紀 (Unofficial Records on the Foreign Countries, 1623) and Xifang dawen 西方答問 (Questions and Answers Regarding the West, 1637). Apart from Aleni’s positive presentations of the exemplary saint and the admirable society, the influence of Jesuit education on him is noticeable in his composition of Xixue fan 西學凡 (Summary of Western Learning, 1623). It looks like an overview of the educational system in the West, but what Aleni introduces is obviously tied in to the scholastic tradition in Europe. We can see the entanglement of Aristotelian natural philosophy and medieval theology in his explanations. 19 Of the six divisions of Xixue 西 學 (Western learning), rhetorica, philosophia and theologia are discussed in detail, but the remaining three – medicina, leges, and canones – are only given short accounts. Recent biographical studies of Aleni’s young adulthood mention his rhetorical training in Brescia,

16

KDRC, pp. 506-508; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 560-561.

17

Mitchell 1981, pp. 47-66.

18

KDRC, p. 508.

19

Luk 1997, pp. 484-485. Aleni particularly mentions Aristotle as the pioneer of feilusuofeiya 斐 錄 所 費 亞 (philosophia) and Aquinas as the authority of douluriya 陡 祿 日 亞 (theologia). He also explains that feilusuofeiya is the inclusive learning of man (renxue 人 學), which in turn serves as the guide of douluriya. See XXF, pp. 41-43; 51.

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philosophy in Parma, and theology in Rome.20 At the Roman College, Aleni was trained in rhetoric as the final stage of the trivium curriculum (grammatica, dialectica, and rhetorica), and the textbooks certainly included De arte rhetorica (1568), a collection of classical oratories of Aristotle, Cicero, Virgil, and Quintilianus, edited by the well-known Jesuit scholar Cypriano Soarez (1524– 1593).21 The value of this disciplinary study, which Aleni sees as the foundation of all other studies, was later shown in his use of oratorical skills in preaching and intellectual discussions in the Fujian mission.22 The preference given to rhetoric, philosophy, and theology might not have been the same for all Jesuit novices of that time, but Aleni’s past experience did match what was required from a Jesuit according to the Constitutiones Societatis Iesu (Constitutions of the Society of Jesus), composed by St. Ignatius in the last nine years of his life. It had a particular focus on theology, aided by other disciplinary trainings. However, medicine and law were considered secondary, and therefore much less attention was paid to these fields.23 The final division on the canonical study is not discussed in detail, likely because the emphasis on Roman papal supremacy might be in conflict with Chinese imperial rulership. At the end of Xixue fan, Aleni explains Catholic societies and colleges in Europe, the two key components of his education.24 Apparently, in the late Ming it was impossible for Aleni and his confreres to establish a Western-style school or college in which they could have implemented the same curricula and examinations as in Europe. Though there were numerous differences between Chinese and Western academic learning, Aleni in this introduction tended to match as many compatible elements between the two as possible.25 It seems that, by presenting the Western learning, he consciously adopts the Confucian form of intellectual transmission, i.e., lecturing ( jiangxue 講學), and borrows ideas from classical Confucian texts whenever possible. It is part of the Jesuit accommodation strategy that originated from the founders of the Society, who in their missions to the European states managed to adapt to different local conditions. The ultimate purpose was to reach a unity, but not uniformity, at whatever cost.26 Not surprisingly, Aleni in Xixue fan puts forward an ambitious claim for a type of syncretic learning between China and the West, i.e., “to gradually merge the studies of the saints (or sages) from the Eastern Sea and the Western Sea into one current.”27 20

Coplo 1997, pp. 73-80; Menegon 1993, pp. 30-32.

21

For studies on Soarez’s work and the development of rhetoric in the European context, see Flynn 1955, pp. 10-54; Li Sher-shiueh 2010, pp. 25-43.

22

XXF, p. 31.

23

Ganss 1992, pp. 213-215.

24

XXF, pp. 58-59.

25

Luk 1997, pp. 487-511.

26

Mitchell 1981, pp. 63-64.

27

XXF, p. 59.

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2.1.2. Missionary Activities I (1610–1625)

Aleni’s early training provided knowledge, role models, and methods for him to start the difficult task of fusing the studies of Eastern and Western sages in the China mission. He arrived at Macau in 1610 or 1611, beginning his study of Chinese language and teaching mathematics in the College of Macau. The first attempt of Aleni and another Jesuit father, Pierre van Spiere (1584–1627), to enter Canton in 1611 failed. Two years later, in 1613, Aleni could go to Nanjing. He was sent to visit a Jewish community in Kaifeng and then headed north to Beijing. There he met Xu Guangqi and returned to the South with Xu. In 1615, when the Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Rites Shen Que 沈㴶 (1565–1624) started the anti-Christian persecutions in Nanjing, Aleni and a few other Jesuits sought refuge at Yang Tingyun’s house in Hangzhou. 28 From then till 1625, Aleni improved his language skills tutored by Yang, baptized a few scholarofficials, including Ma Chengxiu 馬呈秀 in Yangzhou 揚州 in 1620, Han Lin 韓 霖 (1601–1649) in Jiangzhou 絳州 in 1621, and Zhang Geng in Hangzhou in the same year, and published his first Chinese works: Wanguo quantu 萬國全圖 (A Complete Map of the Ten Thousand Countries, ca. 1620), Xixue fan (1623), Zhifang waiji, and Xingxue cushu 性學觕述 (Cursory Discussion on Human Nature, 1623/1646).29 Apart from his short visits to the northern provinces, Aleni’s activities in this period centered in the southern region near Nanjing, especially in Yangzhou. Here he established a close friendship with Yang Tingyun, and under the latter’s protection, survived the Nanjing anti-Christian persecutions with other Jesuit fathers between 1616 and 1617. Not only did Yang write prefaces for Aleni’s recent publications, but he also published several apologetic works (including Shengshui jiyan, Tian–Shi mingbian and Daiyi pian) to advocate Tianxue on the one hand and criticize the Buddhist faith in which he once believed on the other. His conversion and writings angered many anti-Christian scholars and monks, as one can see in their work Pixie ji 辟邪集 (Collection for Refuting Heresies, 1643).30 In addition, through Yang’s introduction Aleni made initial contact with Zhang Geng, who later became one of his most active convert disciples and assistants in the Fujian mission. Aleni and Yang must have mutually attracted and influenced each other, though they were separated by the big age difference of twenty-five years. As an elder and experienced scholar-official, Yang helped Aleni obtain desirable social connections, financial aids for church-building and charity works, and solid argumentation skills to prevail in late Ming Confucian gentry circles. As both a priest and a scholar from the West, Aleni had his professional knowledge in rhetoric, philosophy, and theology, which suited well Yang’s interests in these fields 28

HCC 1, pp. 510-511.

29

Menegon 1993, pp. 34-42; Pan Feng-chuan 2002, pp. 42-46.

30

The collection includes a few articles directly attacking Yang and his works. For an analysis of the articles, see Standaert 1988, pp. 163-165.

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rather than Western sciences.31 More importantly, Aleni’s purpose to merge the “Studies of Eastern Sea and Western Sea” coincided with Yang’s effort to form a new Christian–Confucian orthodoxy. They found a common ground to interpret the key concepts of Christianity and Confucianism creatively, and superimpose new meanings onto these. In Yang’s biography recorded by Ding Zhilin 丁志麟 (dates unknown), one may notice several interesting episodes on Aleni’s exchanges with Yang in Hangzhou.32 After his conversion, Yang founded the Ren hui 仁會 (Society of Benevolence), a charity association, and purchased a cemetery to bury the poor. At that time Aleni was in Yang’s home, and he gave him a piece of advice, “Mr. Yang, you sympathize with the commoners and help them in many ways. Your merits are not shallow. Yet you pity the poor, not the rich; you pity the illness of the body, not the illness of the mind.” When Yang asked what he could do for a change, Aleni advised him to donate money and books of the “Holy Doctrine” (shengjiao 聖教) to people regardless whether they were poor or rich.33 Moreover, since the Ren hui was unable to make ends meet, Yang took Aleni’s advice to purchase lands and provide relief.34 The episode shows an interesting analogy between Yang’s religious devotion and Aleni’s pragmatic concerns. In another episode, the biography tells us how Yang rebutted Shen Que’s criticisms against the Christian faith, and how he supported the mission work of Aleni and other Jesuits as well as the Tianxue that they brought to China: When Mr. Yang first converted to the [Christian] teaching, his countryman Shen Zongbo [i.e., Shen Que] sent a memorial [to the emperor] and criticized the Western learning.35 Mr. Yang did not flatter the powerful figures, generously exhausting his effort and expounding the correct reasons. He was partic31

In his preface to Tongwen suanzhi tongbian 同文算指通編 (Complete Collection of the Rules of Arithmetic Common to Cultures) by Ricci and Li Zhizao, Yang recalls, “Once I met Mr. Li Xitai 利西泰 [courtesy name of Ricci] in Beijing. I talked with him for days about names and principles [i.e., logics or philosophy] and made a cordial friendship. Only when we discussed the theories on geometry and the circles and angles, I could not follow him. Mr. Li sighed and said, ‘Since I came to your glorious kingdom, the only two smart and clear-minded masters I ever met were Li Zhenzhi 李振之 [courtesy name of Li Zhizao] and Xu Zixian 徐 子 先 [courtesy name of Xu Guangqi].’” The comment sounds very straightforward in terms of Yang’s lesser interest in science as compared to philosophy. See TXCH, vol. 5, pp. 2904-2905.

32

The exact date for the trip is not given in the biography. But it was certainly not in 1625, the year Aleni first entered Fujian, and must have been before the death of Yang in 1627. See Standaert 1988, p. 51, fn. 2.

33

Yang Qiyuan, pp. 227-228.

34

Ibid., pp. 228-229. Standaert discusses some donations given by Yang and the “Benevolent Society” as recorded in Litterae Annuae. See Standaert 1988, pp. 89-91.

35

Zongbo 宗伯, literally meaning “grand eldest brother,” is a respectful name for senior officials or colleagues. In Kouduo richao, there appears a Zhu Zongbo in volume 8. See KDRC, p. 528. According to Albert Chan, the person should be Zhu Jizuo, a former Grand Secretary in the Nanjing government. See A. Chan 2002, p. 132.

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CHAPTER TWO ularly worried about the dangers the Western scholars faced, so he invited them to stay at his house. When someone told him this could lead to disaster, Mr. Yang replied, “I follow [the Western scholars] like a disciple follows his master. It is a righteous act. In my life I constantly listen to the Way [from them], saying that I will not change even when it comes to life or death. If I were to abandon them once disaster strikes, would that not be resentful to human feeling? It even goes contrary to our very own learning.” The days the rumor started were just at the same time when the decree [of appointment] was delivered, but Mr. Yang intentionally refused to go. When someone urged him, he said slowly, “I, however, have one thing that I cannot help worrying about.” The person asked him the reason. Mr. Yang said, “If there is no host, who will take care of the Western scholars?” Mr. Shen told Mr. Yang, “I have put aside the issue of the Western scholars.” Mr. Yang smiled and said, “But I wish that you do not put this aside. I still depend on you to show kindness to them on my behalf.”36

Probably due to the high sensitivity of the incident, Ding does not explain in detail why Shen Que “criticized the Western learning” and how the incident began and ended. No matter whether Shen had the intent to expel the Jesuits from China, or bully them with state orthodoxy, or avenge Yang for his personal “offense” – Yang refused to watch a lascivious performance at a banquet offered by Shen – his three memorials sent to the emperor in 1616 and 1617 led to the arrests of two dozen or so Jesuits and converts, and for the first time, signalled a formal conflict between conservative Chinese (including the Buddhists and eunuchs) and sympathetic scholar-officials. 37 The casual discussion of Shen and Yang at the end of the episode must have happened after Shen resigned from his new posts in 1621.38 Although the situation had stabilized by then and Aleni came back to the stage, the fresh memory kept him aware of the hostility of those antiChristians. Twenty years later, when the next anti-Christian incident (1637–1639) in Fujian took place, Aleni again resorted to his ties with sympathetic official friends to remove charges against the Jesuits and converts in the newly established Catholic communities. The third episode offers some detailed information about how Yang led a devout religious life, including self-examination, confession, and the Eucharist, under Aleni’s personal guidance: He also admired the methods of retreat and yearly self-examination of the Western scholars, so he chose by himself certain dates. During these days, he isolated himself from worldly affairs and refused to join social activities. Staying alone in a room, he asked Master Ai to guide him on the exercises of selfexamination and quiet meditation. Thus he examined various sins after his conversion. By making a general confession he asked for forgiveness of his previous untruthful repentances, inexhaustive confessions, and incomplete re36

Yang Qiyuan, pp. 230-231.

37

Standaert 1988, pp. 91-92; HCC 1, pp. 510-511; Jiang Wenhan 1987, pp. 31-34.

38

For the life of Shen Que, see DMB, vol. 2, p. 1178.

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demptions. Once he calmed his mind and cleared his thought, he intimately communicated with the Lord and thereafter asked for the host. In receiving it, he felt more resolute power and gained more grace from the Lord.39

The way Yang was guided by Aleni resembled the first trial experience for a novice to be formally accepted into the Society as prescribed by St. Ignatius in the Constitutiones. Aleni writes: [65]-10 The first experience consists in making the Spiritual Exercises for one month or a little more or less; that is to say, in the candidate’s examining his conscience, thinking over his whole past life and making a general confession, meditating upon his sins, contemplating the events and mysteries of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ our Lord, exercising himself in praying vocally and mentally according to the capacity of the persons, according to what will be taught to him in our Lord, and so forth.40

St. Ignatius differentiated his Society from other congregations by providing training in a secular environment rather than in a monastery. This new pattern of apostolic life effectively increased the Jesuits’ contacts with the unbelievers, but as St. Ignatius admitted, it required greater strength and experience, hence the use of the Exercitia Spiritualia to start the first among the six tests for the novices. When Aleni advised Yang to practice regular contemplation, he may have remembered his own experience of many years ago. Yang could adopt a similar regimen, though at his own discretion: as a person of rank Yang could make his own choices of the place and dates for his new contemplative life. Aleni’s close relationship with Yang is also reflected in his works printed in this period. Yang wrote prefaces for Aleni’s Xixue fan and Zhifang waiji, the former introducing Western education while the latter presented geographical accounts on those countries outside China. In his preface to Xixue fan, Yang identifies Western learning as part of what he would call Tianxue, which meanwhile included the “learning of ancient sages in the Middle Kingdom” (Zhonghua xiansheng zhi xue 中華先聖之學).41 In his preface to Zhifang waiji, Yang summarizes those key concepts in Western geography, such as the earth’s sphericity and the Four Elements. Despite the obvious difference between the geographical traditions of China and the West, he claims that scholars of the Eastern Sea and the Western Sea agree on their knowledge and service to the Lord of Heaven without previous consultation with each other. More interestingly, the term Xihai 西海 (Western Sea) is addressed before Aleni’s name, while the term Donghai 東 海 (Eastern Sea) is addressed before Yang’s. It appears as if the two had created an intercultural harmony through their collaboration. Yang’s own works, as we have seen in the previous chapter, reflect the same intention to find an in-between identity.

39

Yang Qiyuan, pp. 232-233.

40

Ganss 1970, p. 96.

41

XXF, p. 9.

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2.1.3. Missionary Activities II (Fujian Mission, 1625–1649)

Aleni’s final two decades in Fujian became the most fruitful period of his work. He was the first Jesuit who started a mission in this remote province, known for its prominence in degree-holders and high officials, print enterprises, and maritime trade especially in the late Ming. Here Aleni established amiable contacts with scholars at different levels, local officials and noblemen, as well as commoners. With their help he founded churches and Christian societies, baptized converts, and published more works in Chinese. He also faced challenges from some anti-Christian scholar-officials, but managed to remove the official charges against the Jesuits during the Fujian anti-Christian incident. More importantly, Aleni created a hybrid Christian–Confucian image by means of his intellectual exchanges with the Fujian converts. The present research centres on Kouduo richao, as the period it covers constitutes the most active phase of Aleni’s missionary work. We can divide Aleni’s Fujian mission into the following three stages: 1625–1629 as the first stage; 1630–1640 as the second stage (as recorded in Kouduo richao); and 1641–1649 as the final stage.42 A. Beginning Years in Fujian (1625–1629)

In 1624, while staying in Hangzhou, Aleni met the former Grand Secretary Ye Xianggao 葉向高 (1559–1627), who had just retired and passed by Hangzhou on his way back to hometown in Fuqing 福清. Ye was a friend of members from the Donglin party, who were in confrontation with the high-handed eunuch Wei Zhongxian 魏忠賢 (1568–1626) at the imperial court.43 Due to his sympathetic attitude towards Christianity, Ye used his power to force the anti-Christian official Shen Que to resign in 1621, thus preventing further persecutions of the Jesuits during the Nanjing anti-Christian incident. 44 While in Hangzhou, Ye also helped to lift a renewed ban against the Jesuits and got into direct contact with 42

Scholars propose different periodizations for Aleni’s Fujian mission. For example, Dudink uses the year of 1629 as the dividing point: first years (from 1625 to 1629) socializing with well-known scholars and introducing Christianity in general; the years after 1629 focusing on converts from the lower echelon of literati and printing doctrine-based works. See Dudink 1997, pp. 130-153. Pan Feng-chuan considers the anti-Christian incident (1637– 1639) the watershed, with the years before 1629 as the golden age while the years after 1629 as reduced activities. See Pan Feng-chuan 2002, pp. 51-67.

43

For a biography of Ye, see DMB, vol. 2, pp. 1568–1569. For a discussion on Ye’s retirement, see Lin Jinshui 2015, pp. 115-119. For the political situation in the imperial court and Ming regional autonomy, see Atwell 1988, pp. 596-599, 605-611; Wills 2004, pp. 167-203.

44

The removal of Shen Que from the imperial court was in the meantime part of the struggle between the Dongling party and Wei Zhongxian. As a former student of Shen, Wei abused his power to quickly promote Shen to very high positions. Shen in return proposed for a court army under the supervision of the Jinyi wei 錦衣衛 (Imperial Bodyguard), which was headed by Wei. See DMB, vol. 2, p. 1178; Mingshi 明史 (History of the Ming Dynasty), vol. 218, “Liezhuan,” No. 106, in ESSS, vol. 78, pp. 5766-5767.

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them, including Aleni.45 According to Li Sixuan, “In the yichou 乙丑 year (1625) the Grand Secretary Mr. Ye [Xianggao] retired from government, and on his way back he passed through Wulin (Hangzhou). When he had met the Master he regretted that the encounter had not taken place earlier, and he urgently invited him to go to Fujian. The Master too intended to make his way to the south, and so they traveled together in the same boat.”46 Not long after his arrival in Fuzhou, under the support of Ye’s eldest grandson and some converts, Aleni founded the first church and made it the foothold of the Jesuit mission in Fujian.47 In spring 1625, Aleni was invited to a scholarly discussion held at a Confucian academy in Fuzhou. It turned out to be a successful debut, in which Aleni amazed the Fuzhou literati with his unusual Christian–Confucian persona. The main theme centered on the beginning sentence in the Confucian Classic Zhongyong 中庸 (The Doctrine of the Mean), “What Heaven has mandated is called [human] nature” (Tianming zhi wei xing 天命之謂性).48 Upon the host’s request, Aleni presented a novel interpretation: On the one hand, by following Ricci’s reasoning in Tianzhu shiyi, Aleni explained “heaven” as the Lord of Heaven, who with his almighty power endowed humans a perfect nature. On the other hand, he brought forward the concept of original sin with a brief explanation on its negative impact on later generations. The conclusion was that a man could only recover his originally perfect nature by way of the grace from the Lord of Heaven.49 The speech, as one may have expected, stirred up both admiration and suspicion, but Aleni did grasp this occasion to establish his name in local intellectual circles. Equipped with systematic training in rhetoric and theology during his youth, as well as fresh experiences of scholarly discussions with Yang Tingyun in Hangzhou, Aleni seemed to be well-prepared to participate in various opportunities for intellectual exchange. Aleni’s argumentation skills were proved in another scholarly conversation he had with Ye Xianggao in 1627 at Fuzhou, published two years later under the title of Sanshan lunxue ji. This work, according to Bernard Luk’s study, seems to be “a reasonably faithful account of what transpired during the discussions.”50 In other words, it is a real dialogue rendered in its original form. Not only does 45

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 56-57.

46

Zürcher 1997a, p. 106. Here the year of 1625 only applies to Aleni’s arrival at Ye’s home in Fuqing on January 18, 1625, based on Ye’s own record. Ye’s retirement and meeting with Aleni happened in 1624. See DMB, vol. 2, p. 1569; Lin Jinshui 1992, p. 57, fn. 2; id. 2015, pp. 122-124. In fact, Ye still acted with caution at the time, likely for fear of Wei Zhongxian’s spies. See Menegon 1997, pp. 220-221.

47

According to Joseph Dehergne, the church was founded in 1625. See Dehergne 1957, p. 28.

48

The translation of this sentence is my own. For a slightly different translation, see Legge 2001, p. 383.

49

Zürcher 1990, pp. 432-433; Rule 1997, pp. 203-206. Rule also gives translations of Bartoli’s account in Da Cina and argues that the event is the strongest evidence for Aleni’s position on the Rites issue in the 1620s.

50

Luk 1988, p. 176.

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Aleni as the author feature as a protagonist in it, but he also identifies the other two actors: Ye Xianggao and the Surveillance Commissioner Cao Xuequan 曹學 佺 (1574–1646).51 The use of real names reminds us of Ricci’s Jiren shipian, a dialogic work based on his conversations with Chinese officials and literati. I have already discussed Ricci’s implicit intentions to use this literary device to build up or solidify social connections on the one hand, and promote the legitimacy of Tianxue on the other. There is no doubt that Aleni adopts the same strategy. He begins by stating that it was the Grand Councilor Ye who invited him to come to Fujian and ends by repeating Ye’s words on the illuminating teaching of the Lord of Heaven. The effect of this high-level intellectual exchange is revealed in Aleni’s biography, more or less in a eulogistic style. It records: When he [Aleni] happened to sit in conversation with the Grand Secretary [Ye Xianggao] he met the Surveillance Commissioner Mr. Cao Nengshi, and [the three of them] repeatedly engaged in debate. The Master then arranged the words spoken into [a text entitled] “A Record of Discussions on Learning in Sanshan” (Sanshan lunxue ji), which contains an analysis of what is true and false, heretic and orthodox, in relation to the Heavenly Studies (Tianxue) and Buddhism. It allows one clearly to understand [the issues] and to make a decision in the mind. Even our Chinese old teachers and experienced literati, accomplished scholars and eloquent gentlemen were [dumbfounded] by it, their tongues sticking to their palates and their hands hidden in their sleeves and unable to utter one word or to write down one stroke [of refutation]. The Master abundantly produced [his arguments] and still had more to spare. If his spiritual understanding and penetrating insight were not rooted in his innermost nature, how would he have been able to “repose a deep reliance upon it, meeting it [everywhere, as] a fountain [from which things flow], going left or going right as he deems fit”?52

Once again, Aleni’s argumentation skills are highlighted. Li Sixuan further quotes a phrase from the Mengzi at the end, comparing Aleni to a learned gentleman in his self-attainment of the Way.53 In this case, there is no need to separate the self from the other, because the two are now fusing into one Christian– Confucian identity under the uniform designation shengren. A generic comparison between Jiren shipian and Sanshan lunxue ji reveals a few notable aspects in the progress of late Ming Christian dialogue. First, though Ricci gives real names and indicates at times the occasion of a conversation, most parts in Jiren shipian are undated.54 But in Sanshan lunxue ji, the first thing Aleni puts down is to specify when and how the conversation between him, Ye, and Cao took place. As a young scholar from the West, he voyaged ninety-thousand li 51

DMB, vol. 2, pp. 1299-1301; Lin Jinshui 1992, pp. 58-59.

52

SJAXSXJ, pp. 924-925. I follow Zürcher’s translation (1997a, pp. 106-107).

53

SJAXSXJ, p. 925.

54

The exception is Ricci’s conversation with Gong Daoli, which is dated by the year 1605. See JRSP, p. 215.

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里 (one li equals about 0.3 miles) to come to the Middle Kingdom. He had travelled around a few provinces before Ye invited him to come to Fujian in 1625. Two years later, in the early summer of 1627, they had a reunion at Fuzhou, together with Ye’s guest Cao. As the host, Ye asked why Cao and Aleni held opposite attitudes towards Buddhism, while both devoted themselves to a detached life. As soon as Aleni answered that they had different views on the matter of life and death, the discussions began.55 Aleni appears to be more careful than Ricci to set up one specific occasion in time and space, which gives the intellectual exchange credibility and value within the circles of Confucian scholars. Considering its quick circulation at that time, the work may have served as a formal prototype for the compilers of Kouduo richao, especially Li Jiubiao, who came to favor an annalistic style in recording Aleni’s exchanges with the converts. Second, from Jiren shipian to Sanshan lunxue ji, there appears a visible change in terms of the identity of the Christian other. Ricci-the-dialogist is seen as jiren, or an extraordinary man. Though it is strategically selected to form one component of a Christian–Confucian identity, the term has a more or less eccentric tendency and can easily remind the Chinese of Ricci’s non-Chinese image, or of his identity as a foreign scholar at the best in his Tianzhu shiyi. However, in Sanshan lunxue ji, Ye politely calls Aleni a xiansheng while Aleni respectfully calls Ye a shixiang 師相 (Master Minister), a title referring to two positions that Ye had: a Confucian master and the Grand Secretary. This exchange of titles shows a keen concern for speech decorum in a dialogue, in which both interlocutors acknowledge each other’s social status. If jiren may have put Ricci in a marginal position, xiansheng definitely empowered Aleni to speak as a member of the late Ming Confucian gentry. Moreover, along with his introduction of Christian doctrines in Sanshan lunxue ji, Aleni seems to effectively blend Christian and Confucian ideas and sayings. In this sense, he makes the work looks more like Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi, yet embedded in a real conversational setting. The topics discussed include the erroneous teaching of Buddhism; criticisms of such Neo-Confucian concepts as yinyang 陰陽, taiji 太極, li 理 and qi 氣; the omnipresence and omnipotence of the Lord of Heaven; retributions for good and bad people under the Lord’s justice; human body and soul, incarnation of Jesus, and Christianity in China’s history. During the discussions, Aleni skillfully uses many classical Confucian texts to confirm his Christian views. For example, when Cao suggests that li and qi are creative forces in the world, Aleni replies, The two types of qi [i.e., yin and yang] are nothing beyond transformable materials which give the form and substance of things. As to li, it is the principle of things. It relies on other things, but it cannot make things what they are. The Book of Songs writes, “[Heaven gives birth to many people, among which]

55

SSLXJ, p. 435.

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CHAPTER TWO there are things and principles (ze 則).” Here ze refers to li. There must be things first before there is li. Li is not able to give birth to things.56

In Tianzhu shiyi, Ricci employs the scholastic concept Four Causes to deny li the status of a self-standing, creative force. 57 By quoting from a Confucian text, Aleni proves the same point. In another place, when Ye expresses his doubt at the justice of the Lord of Heaven in His creation of both good and evil in the world, Aleni responds that the Lord of Heaven separates these two types because of those who disobey Him. The Lord of Heaven will reward the good and punish the evil. Aleni further quotes a phrase from the Shangshu, “If one does good He will let fall on him a hundred auspicious things; if one does bad He will let fall on him a hundred disastrous things.”58 To him, this affirms exactly what he says on the Lord’s justice. Interestingly, the same phrase is also quoted by Aleni in Kouduo richao, though he explains it from a new angle when criticizing the “falling star” (xingzhui 星墜) theory of traditional Chinese astrologic divination.59 We see from these examples Aleni’s continuous efforts to employ the mechanism of dialogue, especially flexibility in shifting between voices and creativity in interpreting the other’s views. Dialogic hybridization thus became an effective strategy in Aleni’s Fujian mission. No wonder the converts would call him “Confucius from the West,” because he not only blended Western learning and Confucian teaching into one unity but also transmitted knowledge through intellectual dialogues in a similar manner to that of Confucius. Taking Fuzhou as a missionary base, Aleni spent the first five years in building a network of social and intellectual contacts. With Ye Xianggao’s support, and owing to the connections with official converts like Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, and Yang Tingyun, he made friends with influential literati and officials in Fujian. Many of them wrote poems to Aleni, admiring his personal virtues, the hardships he had endured in the sea voyage from the West to China, and his efforts to reinforce Confucian thought and attack Buddhism. It was a refined, aesthetic form of friendship between Aleni and those who visited him and discussed various intellectual and religious subjects at the Fuzhou Church. Eighty-one poems of this type were later collected in Xichao chongzheng ji 熙朝崇正集 (Poems Exalting the Orthodox Doctrine in Our Glorious Dynasty, 1639).60 The Chinese works Aleni published in this period were either metaphysically oriented for the Confucian scholars or doctrinally based for the new converts. In addition to Sanshan lunxue ji, he wrote another introductory work entitled Wanwu zhenyuan 萬物真原 (True Origin of the Ten Thousand Things, ca. 1629). There is no trace that it is based on a real dialogue, but Aleni and his disciple 56

SSLXJ, pp. 440-441. Aleni’s quotation comes from the poem “Zhengmin” in the “Great Odes” of Shijing 詩經 (Book of Songs).

57

TCSI, pp. 108-120.

58

SSLXJ, pp. 445-446.

59

For further analysis on this subject, see Chapter 3.2.5.

60

For studies on this work, see Zürcher 1997a, pp. 89-94; Lin Jinshui 2014, pp. 61-108.

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Zhang Geng render the main part in the form of questions and answers between two unnamed figures. It contains eleven sections divided by eleven themes, from the reasons that things must have a beginning, to such false ideas as man’s selfcreation and creations either by heaven and earth or by li, to the need of a “Great Monarch” (da zhuzai 大主宰) to make and control things between heaven and earth, and finally, to the creation of the universe by the Lord of Heaven, who is the Great Father–Mother (da fumu) and true origin of all things. Aleni’s arguments reflect a Thomist approach that synthesizes Aristotelian philosophy and Catholic theology. Moreover, he continues the strategy developed in Sanshan lunxue ji, namely, to adopt Confucian classics on the one hand and to criticize Neo-Confucian concepts on the other. Aleni also published a few works on Catholic liturgies. The four-volume Dizui zhenggui 滌罪正規 (Proper Rules to Cleanse Sins, ca. 1627) introduces a number of rules and conditions that may apply to one’s self-examination, penitence, confession, and redemption. 61 According to Yang Tingyun’s preface, this work proves the authenticity and simplicity of Western learning and provides an alternative method to save late Ming society from the degenerating customs.62 Except in the first volume, Aleni adopts the catechetical form of a dialogue between an inquirer, in the voice of a new convert, and a respondent who is supposedly a priest. Here is one excerpt on the concept of contrition: Someone asks, “I originally intended to confess all [the sins that I have done]. However, during the long years and months I was used to those regular sins. I could not remember in detail the real number of my violations. What should I do, then?” Answer: You can only exhaust your mind and roughly calculate some [of the sins]. If you still cannot do this, you may say [something like] ever since you converted, or ever since you confessed last time, how many days and months have passed, and how many violations you may have done approximately. I assume that man is honest with regard to his own basic knowledge and memory. If he confesses on this ground, he may also achieve complete forgiveness.63

In another liturgical work, Huizui yaozhi 悔罪要旨 (Essential Points on Contrition, 1629), which is compiled on the basis of an earlier work by Lazzaro 61

DZZG, pp. 339-579. The work has an undated, simplified version, titled Dizui zhenggui lüe (hereafter: DZZGL), which seems to have been compiled by converts in Hangzhou based on Aleni’s original instructions. Some key concerns, such as the Ten Commandments and the Seven Primary Sins, are restated, while details for other aspects are omitted. Interestingly, at the end of this simplified version, four exempla are attached to contrast the true confessors and dishonest confessors. They are not seen in the original text of Dizui zhengui. See WXSB, vol. 3, pp. 1195-1272. Criveller obviously confuses these two versions, for he analyzes the simplified version but refers to it as the four-volume, prefaced version printed in Fujian. See Criveller 1997, pp. 182-184.

62

DZZG, pp. 341-349.

63

Ibid., pp. 509-510.

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Cattaneo (Guo Jujing 郭居靜, 1560–1640), Aleni uses the catechetical format throughout. This short one-volume book focuses on the importance of zhen quan huizui 真全悔罪 (“authentic and complete repentance”) and how a convert can achieve the goal in practice. The content definitely overlaps with what Aleni writes on contrition in the second volume of Dizui zhengui.64 As a revised offprint, it was likely used among the new converts in Fujian. Aleni also compiled a work on the mass liturgy, titled Misa jiyi 彌撒祭義 (Explication of the Sacrifice in the Mass, 1629). Unlike Dizui zhenggui, which is designed to instruct a convert on personal and spiritual exercises, Misa jiyi provides step-by-step guidance for Chinese converts to participate in the public celebration administered by a duode (priest). 65 As will be discussed in chapter five, these two works allow Aleni to highlight his role as the Christian other in the ritual domain. In Kouduo richao, many discussions between Aleni and Chinese converts take place right after the Holy Mass (zhanli 瞻禮, literally meaning to observe the ceremony). This newly established liturgical practice must have been an important community-building device in the Fujian mission. B. The Golden Years (1630–1640)

The ten years between 1630 and 1640 should be regarded as the heyday of Aleni’s Fujian mission. He published another set of important works on Tianxue. His frequent visits in the early 1630s to newly established Catholic communities across the province marked a noticeable expansion of this foreign religion in the local socio-religious arena. However, this mission met serious problems in the late 1630s, which explains why there is only one entry for the entire year of 1638 in Kouduo richao. Aleni and his followers faced great challenges from the newly arrived Dominican and Franciscan friars on the issue of Chinese ancestral worship, and they were forced to keep a low profile in the anti-Christian incident launched by hostile Chinese scholars and local authorities. Despite the difficult situation, Aleni could still manage to utilize his early reputation and connections with friendly officials to end the suppression and resume his work. The thriving Fujian mission deserves attention in a few aspects. First, there was a notable increase of converts and missionary centers (i.e., churches, chapels, and residences). The records in Kouduo richao show that Aleni was often escorted by some leading converts during his visits to Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. More than 70 converts appear in this work, including those who serve as compil64

It seems that Aleni revised Cattaneo’s original by referring to Dizui zhenggui lüe instead of his Dizui zhenggui, though he mentioned the latter in the preface. The evidence is the huizui jing 悔罪經 (prayer of repentance). The text in Huizui yaozhi looks identical with the one in Dizui zhenggui lüe, but different from the one in Dizui zhenggui. For the texts of Dizui zhenggui, Dizui zhenggui lüe, and Huizui yaozhi, see CCT ARSI, vol. 4, WXSB, vol. 3, and CCT BnF, vol. 18 respectively. Eugenio Menegon provides transcriptions of these versions in a recent study, but with some typos. See Menegon 2006, p. 91.

65

MSJY, pp. 469-632. For a general summary of the work, see Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, p. 132.

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ers and editors. They became the main force to create an expanding Christian network in which Aleni could easily move around and baptize hundreds of converts in a short period. For example, from 1633 to 1637, with his confreres Bento de Mattos (Lin Bendu 林本篤 , 1600–1652) and Simão da Cunha (Qu Ximan 瞿西滿, 1590–1660) taking charge of the Fuzhou mission, Aleni made frequent visits to Quanzhou, Zhangzhou, and adjacent places.66 In Quanzhou, he baptized 257 people in 1634, 130 in the next year, and 214 in 1637.67 The Jesuits in Fuzhou, including da Cunha and Manuel Dias, also baptized hundreds of converts in each year after 1635, reaching a total of about two thousand in 1637.68 Recent studies show that there was a visible increase of converts during the 1630s in the China mission.69 Through close contacts with local scholars, gentries, and commoners in Fujian, Aleni made his Fujian mission a remarkable model among the fast-growing Chinese Christian communities of the time. Along with the increase of converts, new churches and communities sprouted across the province. In Kouduo richao, Li Jiubiao records that a new church was founded in his hometown Haikou 海口 in the summer of 1631. The converts invited Aleni to come for a celebration. 70 Another church was established not long before September 24, 1636, the day when Aleni visited the town again and preached to the converts to build a “spiritual church” inside the mind.71 Moreover, during a later visit to Haikou in June 1640, Aleni talked about the name of Xuetang 雪堂 (Church of [Our Lady of] the Snow) for another church recently founded for the Virgin Mary.72 Considering the small number of the Jesuits in China during the mid-17th century, the establishment of at least three churches in a small town within ten years should be an impressive achievement.73 The successful mission was affirmed in Aleni’s letter to the Jesuit General Muto Vitelle-

66

De Mattos arrived at Fuzhou in April, 1632, just a few months before Rudomina died. See KDRC, p. 279; Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, p. 192. Three years later, in 1635, de Mattos was summoned to Hainan in place of Pierre Marquez (?–1670), whose health condition forced him to go to Macau for treatment. See Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, pp. 209, 217. Da Cunha arrived at Fuzhou from Jianning in March, 1635, apparently in place of de Mattos to help Aleni. He only figures in Kouduo richao in 1635. See KDRC, pp. 406-411. It is not clear when he left Fuzhou, but he was active in Jianning and Yanping during the mid-1640s. See Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, pp. 199-200. He was later promoted to Vice-Provincial of China (1657–1659) and Visitator of China and Japan (1659–1660). See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 77.

67

Dehergne 1957, pp. 24-25.

68

Ibid., p. 28.

69

HCC 1, pp. 380-384.

70

KDRC, p. 116.

71

Ibid., p. 441.

72

Ibid., p. 575.

73

A statistical study shows that from the 1620s to the 1670s, the number of Jesuits in China was between 21 and 28. See HCC 1, p. 307.

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schi (1563–1645) in Rome, saying that he had already founded twenty-two churches in eight major cities across the region.74 Aleni collaborated with lay associations organized by local converts. Kouduo richao records that Fuzhou converts planned to found a Shanzhong hui 善終會 (Association for Achieving a Good Death) on May 4, 1630.75 Two other associations – Ren hui (Society of Benevolence) and Zhen hui 貞會 (Society of Chastity) – were mentioned in the dialogues between de Mattos and Li Jiubiao at the Fuzhou Church.76 On September 25, 1636, a day after Aleni arrived at Haikou for the new church, the converts told him that they planned to establish a Shengmu hui 聖母會 (Society of the Holy Mother). 77 In these cases, the converts were acting on their own initiative. Aleni and de Mattos gave their approval and offered encouraging comments and suggestions. These lay associations and congregations, aiming to strengthen the unity of devotional members and do charity works, could be effective support of the Jesuit mission for both religious and financial purposes. On the other hand, these small groups in Fujian were linked with those founded in other provinces to develop even larger Christian networks, which was a noticeable phenomenon in the early Qing period.78 More interestingly, this type of lay organization created a public sphere for the converts to mix Chinese and Christian/Western beliefs and life styles. The Christian enterprise in the late Ming thus experienced a relatively fast and enduring development despite the disadvantages such as the shortage of missionaries and anti-Christian incidents. Though Aleni was busy traveling between cities and towns across Fujian, he still spared much time to write and publish an impressive number of Chinese works: (1) Daxi Xitai Li xiansheng xingji 大西西泰利先生行跡 (Life of Master Li Xitai from the Great West, 1630): a traditional Chinese style biography of Ricci, with a postscript by Li Jiubiao.79 (2) Jihe yaofa 幾何要法 (Essential Methods of Geometry, 1631): a scientific treatise on geometry, intended to refine Ricci’s earlier translated work Jihe yuanben (Elements of Geometry, 1607).80 (3) Tianzhu jiangsheng yinyi 天主降生引義 (Introduction on the Incarnation of the Lord of Heaven, 1634/1635): a two-volume work explaining the major doctrines on Christ’s incarnation. The first volume focuses on God’s crea74

Aleni’s letter dated February 12, 1642. See Menegon 1993, p. 45.

75

KDRC, p. 57.

76

The discussion on the Renhui happened on Sept. 28, 1634 and the discussion on the Zhenhui happened on Jan. 31, 1635. See KDRC, pp. 396, 404.

77

Ibid., p. 443.

78

Zürcher 1990, pp. 440-443; HCC 1, pp. 456-460.

79

Xu Mingde 1997, pp. 378-382, 387-401.

80

HCC 1, pp. 742-743.

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tion, the fall of man, Christ as the second person in the Holy Trinity, and scriptural prophecies about the incarnation. The second volume, mainly in the form of questions and answers, treats practical concerns about incarnation, such as man’s inability for a self-salvation, the Lord’s unchanged divine nature after the incarnation, the reasons for Him not being born in an imperial family or in China, and the Lord’s matchlessness among all human saints/sages (e.g., Confucius and Mencius). 81 (4) Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe 天主降生言行紀畧 (Brief Record on the Speeches and Conducts of the Incarnated Lord of Heaven, 1635): a synopsis based on the Four Gospels in the New Testament, depicting in a chronological order biblical events from the conception of John, as the forerunner of Christ, up to His crucifixion and resurrection, and then the apostles’ preaching of the word of God to Jews and other peoples.82 (5) Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie 天主降生出像經解 (Illustrated Explanation on the Incarnation of the Lord of Heaven, 1637): a collection of fiftysix pictures (and a plan of Jerusalem at the time Jesus was incarnated) illustrating Jesus’ life, from the conception of St. John the Baptist till the coronation of the Virgin.83 (6) Xifang dawen 西 方 答 問 (Questions and Answers Regarding the West, 1637): a dialogic work in the simple question-and-answer form, with topics arranged thematically on the location of Europe, its distance from China, oversea voyages, natural resources, industries, governments, education, social customs, welfare, marriage, funeral, geography, calendar, as well as Xishi (Western scholars, i.e., Jesuits) in China.84

81

For an analysis and partial translation of the text, see Criveller 1997, pp. 281-300.

82

For analysis on the style and content of Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe (hereafter: TZJSYXJL), see Criveller 1997, pp. 203-232. For two other recent studies on the work, see Pan Feng-chuan 2009, pp. 111-167; Song Gang 2011b, pp. 208-260.

83

This work is also titled Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie (Scriptural Explanation with Images of the Incarnated Lord of Heaven). It was based on Jerónimo Nadal’s (1507–1580) Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), yet was rendered in Chinese texts adapted from Vita Christi by Ludophus Saxonia (ca. 1300–1378). See HCC 1, pp. 622-623. For research on the transmission of Nadal’s work from Europe to China and its Chinese reproductions in the late Ming, see Criveller 1997, pp. 233-253; Rheinbay 1997, pp. 323335.

84

For a translation of Xifang dawen, see Mish 1964, pp. 1-87. At the end of this work, there is attached a section criticizing Chinese geomancy, part of which repeats the conversations between Aleni and some Fujian converts (especially Li Jiubiao) recorded in Kouduo richao. For a detailed analysis, see Chapter 3.2.6. The reader of this section is Jiang Dejing 蔣德 璟 (1593–1646), who showed a certain tolerance to the Jesuits during the Fujian antiChristian incident (1637–1638). See Jiang’s preface to Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 139-141.

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(7) Shengmeng ge 聖夢歌 (Song of St. Bernard’s Dream, 1637): an allegoric poem on the conversations between the body and soul of a dead man, who is pulled down to hell by the devil to receive eternal punishments.85 (8) Shengmu meigui jing shiwu duan tuxiang 聖母玫瑰經十五端圖像 (Fifteen Images of the Holy Mother’s Rosary, ca. 1637): an illustrated text of fifteen pictures for meditation on the mysteries in the life of Christ, followed by a list of fifteen poetic songs composed by Zhang Geng.86 These works testify to the broad scope of Aleni’s introduction of Tianxue in the 1630s. The thematic diversity suggests that intellectuality and religiosity continued to be two key aspects in the later years of Aleni’s Fujian mission. He may have spent more efforts to take care of an increasing number of local converts from the lower classes, but there was little indication that he engaged in considerably less intellectual activities than before. A few modern scholars argue that Aleni made a conscious shift from an intellectual approach to a pastoral approach during this period.87 However, as we see in the aforementioned writings and the intellectual conversations recorded in Kouduo richao, this adjustment appeared to be a natural expansion of the missionary work rather than a sudden change of the mission strategy. The achievements of Aleni in the 1630s by no means safeguarded a peaceful mission in Fujian. The anti-Christian incident from 1637 to 1638 was a precarious moment for him and the Catholic communities. A sequence of dramatic events in this incident betrayed the tension between the Jesuits and the newly arrived Franciscan and Dominican friars. There were also collaborative antiChristian actions on the Chinese side. Conservative scholars, Buddhists, and suspicious officials played the key role in preventing a further expansion of Christianity in Fujian. Since the Fujian incident has been studied by many scholars, I will just give a brief summary of it, followed by some remarks on how Aleni and his convert disciples responded to such a difficult situation.88 85

According to Zhang Geng’s preface, Aleni translated the original Western poem about the dream of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). In the foreword by Lin Jijun, however, the authorship is attributed to St. Bernard himself. For studies on the authorship, see Dudink 1997, p. 144, fn. 59; Criveller 1997, pp. 175-176; Ronnie Hsia Po-chia 2005 pp. 223-240; Li Sher-shiueh 2007, pp. 87-142.

86

For more discussions on this text, see Chapter 4.1.4.

87

Dudink 1997, pp. 129-149; Criveller 1997, 428-440; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 62-64. Pan Feng-chuan also supports such an opinion, see id. 2002, p. 36, n. 12.

88

Menegon’s article “Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans in Fujian: The Anti-Christian Incidents of 1637–1638” (1997, pp. 219-262) is an in-depth study on this subject. Zhang Xianqing also provides a full account of the incident in his research, see id. 2009a, pp. 6183. For the impacts of the incident in the context of Chinese Rites Controversy, see Rule 1986; and id. 1997, pp. 201-217. For the Dominican perspective of the incident, see Villarroel 1993, No. 82, pp. 5-61; Wills 1994a. For the Jesuit perspective of the incident, see Dunne 1962, pp. 245-268. For studies comparing the Jesuit approach and the mendicant approach in China, see Cummins 1986, pp. 33-108; Rosso 1948, pp. 63-146.

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On the last day of 1630, Fr. Angelo Cocchi (1597–1633), as an envoy of Spain-controlled Formosa, was caught near the coast of Quanzhou, after surviving a mutiny and shipwreck on his way to the mainland. Despite the order of local officials, he managed to stay and found the first Dominican mission in Fu’an 福安, a prefecture to the north of Fuzhou. It was an opportune time for the new mission. Back in 1600, Pope Clement VIII (1536–1605) had authorized Spanish friars, both Dominicans and Franciscans, to enter China, once the Jesuit diocese under Portuguese patronage. The first friars not only secured support from local lineages in Fu’an, but they also took advantage of the growing Christian network built by the Jesuits and Chinese converts.89 In 1633, Cocchi was joined by Juan Bautista de Morales (Li Yufan 黎玉范, 1597–1664) and Antonio de Santa Maria Caballero (Li Andang 利安當, 1602– 1669). They were shocked at seeing the idolatrous ancestral rituals performed by some local converts. When they found out that the Jesuits, particularly Aleni and de Mattos in Fuzhou, were tolerant to this type of practice, tension between the two parties began to accumulate. Not being able to reach an agreement from the Jesuits, especially after a failed attempt to persuade Francisco Furtado (Fu Fanji 傅汎際, 1589–1653), Vice-Provincial of the Jesuits in China, the Friars decided to act on their own. They openly opposed the ancestral rituals among Fu’an converts and inspected them to prepare detailed minutes for further consideration by Manila authorities.90 Moreover, in June 1637 two recently arrived Franciscans, Gaspar Alenda (?– 1642) and Francisco de la Madre de Dios, set out on a journey to Beijing to defend the authentic doctrine, only to be arrested by Chinese soldiers after a short stay at the Jesuit house run by Johann Adam Schall von Bell (Tang Ruowang 湯 若望, 1591–1666), then the Jesuit astronomer in the Ming court. They were escorted back to Fujian and released by the official in charge. A few months ago, five more friars came from Taiwan to support the mission. On November 21 and 23, 1637, in Ningde 寧德 (south of Fu’an) and Fu’an, three friars and several local converts were arrested, and one friar fled. They were reportedly identified as “the barbarians from the Luzon clique of Matteo Ricci.”91 The view of the friars, that the Jesuits plotted the arrests in order to drive them out of Fujian, is debatable. On December 20, 1637, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Fujian and the Prefect of Fuzhou issued two official orders to expel the “heretical religion” of Christianity. Strangely, only Aleni and 89

Menegon 1997, pp. 224-229; Wills 1994a, pp. 119-121; Zhang Xianqing 2009a, pp. 43-61.

90

Zhang Xianqing 2009a, pp. 65-68.

91

Menegon 1997, pp. 235-246; Dunne 1962, pp. 245-256; Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 126-131. In the last source, which contains the bulletin issued by the Coast Patrol Circuit Intendant of Fujian Shi Bangyao it is clearly stated that the missionaries’ ban for Chinese converts to perform funerary rituals and ancestral worship was violating human relations. Whether he and other officials at this point noticed the differences between the Jesuits and the Friars is still debatable. However, to sooth the suspicions of local officials, the Jesuits and their converts tended to address this concern with much tolerance.

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Dias were specified in the documents as the leaders to be expelled, but not the friars. Dias was forced to go back to Macau, while Aleni stayed but kept a low profile in the Quanzhou and Xinghua area. However, the friars in hiding responded with more audacious actions, publicly tearing up the official bulletins apart in Fu’an and going to the northern cities in Zhejiang and Jiangnan to show their uncompromising stance. This incurred another round of arrests. Most friars were forced to leave Fujian, and those who escaped and stayed in the province had to rely on the faithful local converts to work in secret.92 Along with the official ban, the Jesuits faced growing pressure from the hostile scholars and Buddhists, among whom Huang Zhen 黃貞 became one of the leading figures. Huang was a lay Buddhist and a native of Zhangzhou 漳州. When Aleni first visited Zhangzhou in 1633, Huang upon the request of the convert Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化 went to listen to the homilies. He challenged Aleni with a question on God’s judgment of King Wen, a model of the Confucian rule, who had many wives and concubines. Aleni, according to Huang’s account, was embarrassed by such a question: On the one hand, polygamy was a serious violation of the Catholic norms, so King Wen should be in Hell. On the other hand, the claim that a true sage would be punished eternally in Hell was both a humiliation for Chinese scholars and a dilemma for the Jesuits who had tried to use the ancient Confucian models to justify their Tianxue.93 Huang’s later criticisms appeared to be highly ideological, and he adopted the xenophobic term “fraudulent barbarians” ( jianyi 奸夷) to refer to the Jesuits.94 Since 1633, Huang not only devoted himself to the writing of anti-Christian essays, but he also urged fellow Buddhists and scholar friends to contribute works of their own and make a collective effort to eradicate the “heretical teaching” of the Jesuits. The anti-Christian incident in Fujian offered them an excuse to ventilate the xenophobic emotion, which was repeatedly expressed in the Shengchao poxie ji published in 1639. As the incident was about to reach its end by that time, this book did not entail more official suppressions against the Jesuits. 95 Likely in response to the criticisms of Huang and his friends, a few converts wrote apologetic writings in defense of the Christian religion.96 92

Menegon 1997, pp. 249-254.

93

This episode is recorded in Huang’s letter to his mentor Yan Maoyou 顏茂猷. See Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 150-151. The conversation may have been held during Aleni’s first visit to Zhangzhou (March to April in 1633) on the invitation of Yan Zanhua.

94

Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 167-170.

95

Lin Jinshui 1992, p. 99. For a summary of this work and the major anti-Christian themes in it, see Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 11-33).

96

For example, Yan Zanhua wrote two apologetic essays – “Lun fanchu feili” 論梵楮非理 and “Pi lunhui shuo” 闢輪迴說 – to refute the burning of paper money and the Buddhist concept of reincarnation. These essays were copied in Tianxue jijie 天學集解 (Collection of Texts on the Learning from Heaven) by the early Qing convert Liu Ning 劉凝 (1620– 1715?). For more information, see Dudink 1993b, p. 12.

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After a series of maneuvers, Aleni went back to Fuzhou in July 1639 to resume his work. At about the same time, Francisco a Jesús de Escalona, one of the remaining friars, went to see him to seek support. With his uncompromising view on the rites issue, Escalona soon engaged in a face-to-face debate with Aleni. According to his own account, the defeated Jesuit conceded and asked his converts to remove the ancestral tablets. However, it seemed more likely that Escalona’s effort did not really affect the established adaptation strategy of Aleni and other Jesuits. Not long after the debate, Escalona left Fujian and returned to Manila via Macau, openly disengaging the mission work.97 The Dominican mission did survive and expand through other ways, for example, bypassing the local authorities and building Christian networks through local lineages. Yet, the conflicts between the friars and the Chinese in terms of ancestral rituals did not prevent the localization of Christianity, a foreign religion that struggled to survive at the margins of socio-religious tolerance till the late Qing time.98 The quick recovery of the Jesuit mission was mainly due to Aleni’s close social contacts with officials and literati in Fujian, as well as the network he and his converts had already developed in the past decade. For one thing, as soon as he was informed about the ban posted in Fuzhou, Aleni called for help from a few official friends, including Zhang Ruitu 張瑞圖 (1570?–1641) and Huang Mingqiao 黃 鳴 喬 ( jinshi 1604), both of whom had composed poems in Xichao chongzheng ji. Zhang immediately contacted the Prefect of Fuzhou, and Huang published his apologetic Tianxue chuan’gai 天學傳概 (Summary of the Spread of the Learning from Heaven, 1639) to defend the Jesuits by separating them from the “people from other places” (i.e., the friars). 99 In addition, Aleni got help from Jiang Dejing 蔣德璟 (1593–1646), who served in the Ming court by then. Jiang had previous contacts with Aleni in person and read his Xifang dawen. He disapproved of the orders to expel the missionaries and suggested a mild solution: their teachings may be forbidden, but they as people from afar deserved sympathy.100 In September 1638, Aleni found an opportunity to visit Zhu Jizuo 朱繼祚 (1593–1649), the former Grand Secretary at the Nanjing court.101 In Zhu’s residence, the two had a long conversation in the presence of a few other guests, the 97

Dunne 1962, pp. 260-264; Rule 1997, pp. 212-216.

98

Menegon 2009, pp. 59-153; Zhang Xianqing 2009a, pp. 93-147.

99

Among the poems in Xichao chongzheng ji, Zhang’s poem is the second and Huang’s is the seventh. See WX, pp. 644, 648. Zhang was a disciple of Li Zhizao, but later he was removed from the Grand Secretariat for his relation with Wei Zhongxian. See DMB, pp. 9495; Menegon 1997, p. 256, fn. 121; Dudink 1997, p. 134, fn. 23. Huang was listed by Li Sixuan as one of Aleni’s Chinese friends. See XHAXSXL, p. 249. For the life and work of Huang, see Menegon 1997, p. 256, fn. 122.

100

Menegon 1997, p. 256, fn. 113; Lin Jinshui 1994a, pp. 225-226. Jiang was also listed by Li Sixuan as one of Aleni’s Chinese friends. See XHAXSXL, p. 249.

101

KDRC, pp. 528-538. The identity of Zhu has been given by Chan in his catalogue for Kouduo richao in the Jesuit Archives in Rome. See A. Chan 2002, p. 132.

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only record in Kouduo richao for that year. There are a few interesting points to note. First, the dialogists almost exclusively discuss the acute issue of idol worship, as is evident from such topics as the authentic deities (zhengshen 正神) assigned by the Lord of Heaven vs. the fake deities (weishen 偽神) including the City God (Chenghuang 城隍) and Lord Guan (Guan Yu 關羽), a famous Chinese commander in the Three Kingdoms period (222–280) who was later deified. Second, Aleni puts forth a subtle argument on the worship of the City God and Guan Yu. He rejects the authority of these fake deities, since as human beings they usurp the Lord of Heaven’s authority in determining disasters and fortunes. On the other hand, however, he makes some compromise by saying that deities of this type may still be acceptable if they are sanctified in the Catholic system of belief as the agents of the Lord of Heaven. Here we see a similar reasoning to the one that Aleni uses to tackle the problematic ancestral worship: if properly purified and reformed by a Catholic doctrine, certain forms of worship, originally civil practices but now idolatrous by nature, are still tolerable. This skilful treatment appears to be a revised strategy in comparison to the one adopted by earlier Jesuits, who clearly renounced any religious elements in Chinese rituals. Third, similar to his discussions with Ye Xianggao in Sanshan lunxue ji, Aleni consciously showed off his knowledge of Chinese history and culture. By referring to Confucian classics and making critical comments on Guan Yu’s character, he would reaffirm his Christian–Confucian identity and meanwhile attack the Buddhist and Daoist teachings. Naturally his arguments convince Zhu Jizuo in the end. In Li Jiubiao’s description: The Grand Secretary [Xiangguo 相國, i.e., Zhu Jizuo] says, “Respectfully I have received your great instruction. As you are now sitting fact to face with me as my guest, let me express my admiration for all the trouble you have taken to come from afar and to explain your religion, as well as for the strict and meticulous way in which you are working for the [propagation of] the Holy Doctrine.”102

The positive comments can be seen as an informal support of Aleni against the charges of the anti-Christian scholars and Buddhists on the one hand, and the accusations from the Spanish friars on the other. Before moving into the next phase of Aleni’s mission, we should pay attention to another important event – the presentation of three steles in cross designs in Quanzhou in 1638. This may have helped the Jesuits and Fujian converts defend themselves in the anti-Christian incident. The rubbings of these steles are attached at the end of Manuel Dias’ Jingjiao liuxing Zhongguo bei song zhengquan 景教流 行中國碑頌正詮 (Lapidary Eulogy on the Propagation of Nestorianism in China: A Complete Annotation, 1644). The first rubbing carries a note written by Zhang Geng, who was inspired by the Lord of Heaven in the spring of 1638 to present the stele (found in 1619 by a relative of Zhang) to his friends and place it in the

102

KDRC, p. 538; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 581.

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103

Taoyuan 桃源 Church.103 It is not hard to detect the motive for this action at such a special time. The note for the second rubbing says that a stele was found by the converts in April 1638, close to an old Buddhist temple built in the Tang dynasty. It was then moved to the Quanzhou Church by the converts. Interestingly, the last stele was held by the father of the Minister of Justice Su Maoxiang 蘇茂相 (1566–1630), who was a friend of Yang Tingyun and who also wrote a preface for Aleni’s Sanshan lunxue ji. The stele was once kept in a Buddhist temple built in the Tang dynasty. When the converts found it, they moved it into the Quanzhou Church before the day of Jesus’ crucifixion.104 Zhang’s notes prove a visible trace of early Christianity in China, and he further suggests a connection with Su. In this sense, it is possible that Zhang and the other converts released these messages at a critical time in order to defend the Jesuits’ position in Fujian.105 From 1619 to 1645, more Nestorian steles were found in Quanzhou. They were likewise collected and displayed by local converts for devotional purposes.106 C. Final Years (1641–1649)

In this period, especially the last few years, Aleni’s mission in Fujian experienced drastic changes, from short-lived imperial legitimation under the Southern Ming to utter destruction after the Manchus completed their conquest of China. Unfortunately, he and many of the local converts did not survive the social and political turmoil during the Ming–Qing transistion. There were two official endorsements of Aleni’s mission before the Manchu troops took over Fujian. The first came from Zuo Guangxian 左光先 (1580–

103

The place Taoyuan here refers to Yongchun 永春, a county to the north of Quanzhou. See Dehergne 1957, p. 27; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 318.

104

Little evidence has been found to date these steles, though Zhang Geng pointed to the Tang time. They should be no later than the Yuan dynasty, when Quanzhou was a trading center for foreigners, including Christian missionaries. For the rubbings and texts, see the modern reprints in WXXB, vol. 2, pp. 751-754. Su Maoxiang was listed by Li Sixuan as one of Aleni’s Chinese friends. See XHAXSXL, p. 249. For information on Su, see Lin Jinshui 1994a, p. 228. In my calculation, the second stele was found on April 8, 1638, the fourth day after Easter. It was moved to the Quanzhou church around the 27th of the same month. The third stele was likely seen by the converts in late March, 1638. They moved it to the Quanzhou church on April 1, 1638. (Based on the Gregorian calendar, effective since 1582; April 2, 1638 was the Good Friday and April 4, 1638 was Easter Sunday.)

105

It may be a coincidence that Huang Mingqiao in his Tianxue chuan’gai also traces Christianity in China back to Tang Nestorianism, by mentioning the stele excavated in the 1620s in Shaanxi. See Zikawei, vol. 3, p. 1307. For an overview on how Quanzhou converts discovered these three steles and some others between 1629 and 1639, see Li Jinshui 1994a, pp. 234-237; Xie Bizhen 1997, pp. 403-413. However, they do not mention the possible link between the Nestorian steles and the difficult 1637–1638 situation for the Fujian mission.

106

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 91-94.

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1659), governor of the Jianning Prefecture, in 1641.107 According to Li Sixuan’s biography, Aleni made his first visit to Jianning, the hometown of Li. Probably because of Li’s introduction, Zuo showed great respect to Aleni. He said: Our Chinese literati only know about things up to the level of the Mandate of Heaven. What you say, Sir, directly takes us back to [something] preceding the Mandate of Heaven; it surely amounts to transcending the human [state] by one step. Moreover, in serving the Sovereign-on-High (Shangdi), our literati only know how to venerate Him; they do not know how to love Him as a close relative (qin 親). After having heard about your Doctrine I realize that the Sovereign-on-High truly is our great Father-and-Mother. This is the highest fulfillment of both veneration and love!108

To show his support to Aleni, Zuo proposed and took the lead to build a church in Jianning, with a tablet inscribed with the two characters “Veneration and Love” (zun qin 尊親). Zuo also publicized this action by issuing an official notice, in which he highlighted three points: the Lord of Heaven as a universal Great Father–Mother (da fumu) who is utmost noble and kind and deserves love from all under heaven; imperial approval of the Western Scholars to spread Christianity in China, with Aleni being the most prominent one among them; an order to the ignorant people not to treat the Jesuits with hatred but to carefully study the books they have printed.109 Zuo explicitly said that his purpose was to use the learning of these Western Scholars to assist wanghua 王化, the kingly rule. Of course, Aleni would wholeheartedly accept such a favorable promotion. The other endorsement of Aleni was expressed in an imperial order with more practical concerns. In 1643, Shi Kefa 史可法 (1602–1645), then Minister of War, invited Aleni to come to Nanjing. But for some unknown reason Aleni aborted the plan on his way to the north.110 Largely due to his reputation in Fujian and connection with the Portuguese forces in Macau, the Ming pretender Longwu 隆武 (Zhu Yujian 朱聿鍵, Prince Tang) approached him with an offer of imperial patronage.111 According to Li Sixuan’s account, Longwu ordered the Fuzhou Church to be rebuilt. A memorial arch was placed at the entrance, with the inscription “Church of the Lord of Heaven Established by Imperial Order.” Furthermore, Longwu sent to the Fuzhou Church a tablet with the inscription

107

Zuo Guangxian was the younger brother of Zuo Guangdou 左光斗 (1575–1625), a late Ming official and one of the Donglin scholars opposing Wei Zhongxian. See DMB, vol. 2, pp. 1305-1308.

108

XHAXSXL, pp. 252-253. Here I follow Zürcher’s translation. See Zürcher 1997a, p. 109.

109

Qinming chuanjiao yueshu 欽命傳教約述 (A Brief Summary on Preaching Christianity under the Imperial Orders, ca. 1714), in CCT ZKW, vol. 3, pp. 1325-1328.

110

XHAXSXL, p. 254. The year was guiwei 癸未 (1643). But in the SJAXSXJ copy the year is wrongly given as guimao 癸卯 (1663). See SJAXSXJ, p. 928.

111

Longwu’s reign was from August 18, 1645 to October 6, 1646. For a history of this regime in the Southern Ming, see Struve 1984; id. 1988, pp. 663-676.

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“The Sovereign-on-High Comes for You (Shangdi lin ru 上帝臨女).”112 This was indeed a great triumph for Aleni, but the regime was too short-lived. In 1646, a year after Longwu claimed himself to be the legitimate emperor of the Ming dynasty, his forces were defeated by the Manchus in Fujian, and Longwu was also caught and killed soon afterwards.113 Fuzhou became an empty city when the Qing troops entered in October 1646. Aleni fled to Putian 莆田 and then took refuge at Yanping 延平, where he spent the last two years of his life from 1647 to 1649. As early as 1641, Aleni had been appointed as the Vice-Provincial to supervise about ten Jesuits in southern China, including Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangnan, and Jiangxi. 114 Unfortunately, the turmoils of the mid-1640s greatly affected his ability to fulfil his duty in such a position. He could not go back to Fuzhou, the center of the Fujian mission, where he had spent two decades of his life. Nor could he visit Zhejiang and Jiangnan as he had planned in response to Shi Kefa’s invitation. Surrounded by a group of converts, and assisted by Manuel Dias, Aleni died on June 10, 1649. His body was later moved and buried on the Mountain of the Cross (Shizi shan 十字山) outside the north gate of Fuzhou.115 Aleni published the final group of his works before the Manchus captured Fuzhou. They included Tianzhu shengjiao sizi jingwen 天主聖教四字經文 (FourCharacter Classic of the Sacred Teaching of the Lord of Heaven, 1642; hereafter: Sizi jingwen), Shengti yaoli, and Wushi yan yu. Sizi jingwen is a catechism for adolescents and its format imitates the popular Chinese primer Sanzi jing 三字經 (The Three-Character Classic). In a very simple style, the work introduces a number of essential Catholic concepts, such as Trinity, creation, heaven and hell, the ancestors of all human beings, the original sin, human soul, Noah and Moses, Jesus’ life, crucifixion, ascension, and the Last Judgment. Aleni also urges the readers to live a good Christian life and study Tianxue, the real knowledge for one to know the essence of the Way (Dao) and attain all the virtues (de). 116 Shengti yaoli is a two-part work on the Eucharist. The first part introduces main aspects as the origin, purposes, and miraculous power of the Eucharist, while the second part gives detailed prescriptions on how one should prepare oneself before the sacrament and how to receive the Host (i.e., Eucharist) in the mass liturgy. This work, together with Aleni’s Dizui zhenggui and Misa jiyi, provides detailed instructions on the liturgical life for Chinese converts.117 The third text Wushi yan 112

XHAXSXL, p. 256; Zürcher 1997a, p. 115. For Western sources on this event, see Dudink 1997, p. 146, fn. 63.

113

Struve 1988, p. 676.

114

Dehergne 1957, p. 22.

115

XHAXSXL, pp. 245-246, 254, 257. Aleni’s tombstone has been renovated by the Fuzhou government. See Criveller 1997, p. 166, fn. 48.

116

TZSJSZJW, pp. 309-377.

117

A. Chan 2002, 129. For an analytical summary of Shengti yaoli, see Criveller 1997, pp. 185-189. Criveller dates the work to 1641, but Standaert and Dudink give the year 1644.

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yu may be seen as an extended verson of Ricci’s Ershiwu yan 二十五言 (Twentyfive Proverbs, 1605). It combines Christian moral and spiritual themes, admonishing one to do good works, be modest, and show love and obedience to the Lord of Heaven, so as to achieve eternal happiness in the afterlife. Aleni also tries to absorb Confucian rational thinking into Tianxue. He writes: There is no one who does not want to understand the principles and meanings of things. However, if he is not eager for the Way and does not obtain virtues, even though he claims himself to be exhausting the principles, I believe he still has a mistaken understanding of the principles of things. [To know] the reason that things should be investigated, [he] must first understand the dominant Creator as the great origin of our ten thousand virtues. If by investigating things one does not regard the Lord of creation as one’s major [concern] and turn one’s heart to Him, it is just like cutting down the root of a tree in order to get the flowers and fruits. The ten thousand things originally derive from the One and finally end by returning to the One. If one knows all things are created by one Lord, one will reach the One and understand all ten thousand principles.118

After Aleni’s death, there were three Jesuits working in Fujian: da Cunha, who stayed in Jianning and Yanping till 1659; António de Gouvea (He Dahua 何大化, 1592–1677), who escaped the siege of Fuzhou and soon won the support of the new Manchu governor Tong Guoqi 佟 國器 (d. 1684) to rebuild the Fuzhou Church; and Pietro Canevari (Nie Boduo 聶伯多, 1594–1675), who went to Nanchang due to the Qing’s blockage of Fujian coast areas against the Ming loyalist commander Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功 (1624–1662) in 1652. 119 These Jesuits survived the hardships of the Ming–Qing transition and saw a revival of the mission when Jesuit scientists regained a prestigious status under the new Manchu rulers. 2.1.4. Aleni’s Works and Jesuit Print Culture in Fujian

As discussed before, aside from Aleni’s pastoral work and scholarly exchanges, publication of books became another important medium for him to spread the Christian doctrine and Xixue among the Chinese. In his Chinese biography, it says: For that reason (i.e., as a means to “supply goodness”), the Master was very fond of publishing [pious] books. He used to say: “The diseases of the human mind are many. If one publishes “good books” (shanshu) on a wide scale, it is to be compared to a dispensary – all articles are in store, allowing all people to

See HCC 1, p. 624; Dudink 1997, p. 145, fn. 60. For a more detailed discussion, see Chapter 5.3.3. 118

WSYY, p. 379.

119

XHAXSXL, p. 263; Zürcher 1997a, p. 123. For biographies of these three Jesuits, see Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, pp. 198-201, 220-223. For Tong’s conversion and support of the Christian religion, see HCC 1, pp. 444-445.

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choose for themselves, so that the cures they receive correspond to their [individual] diseases.120

To Aleni, the remedy for “diseases of the human mind” is a metaphor of the ultimate goal of his mission. He brings forth this analogy between books and medicine to promote the Jesuit writings as an alternative category of printed works in late Ming China. It is also noteworthy that he adopts the term shanshu 善書 (morality books) for the Christian books published by both the Jesuits and Chinese converts. Given the growing number of shanshu and gongguo ge 功過格 (Ledgers of Merits and Demerits) in late Ming culture, we may understand his expression as an intentional cultural appropriation, though with a very different undertone in terms of religious interpretation.121 Upon his death in 1649, Aleni had published more than twenty Chinese works, not only on Christian doctrines but also on European philosophy, ethics, sciences, arts, and education. Some of his works were subsequently reprinted and widely circulated. No wonder Li Sixuan would praise him by saying that the master has spent all spare time and money on writing and printing books. Of course, he did not aim for making profits or personal gains, but for the spiritual well-being of Chinese readers: “All these texts are profound and penetrating, and they are written in a clear and perspicuous style. They contribute to man’s spiritual wisdom, and they truly are divine drugs for regulating the mind.”122 Aleni’s voluminous works and those of previous Jesuits printed in Fujian contributed to the ascendance of Jesuit publications in late Ming China. In fact, the momentum had been accumulated for a few decades already. Soon after he entered China in the early 1580s, Matteo Ricci noticed the wide use of woodblock print in Chinese society.123 He pointed out that the art of printing had been used by the Chinese centuries before the Europeans, and that their woodblock carving looked very different from the European counterpart: Their method of making printed books is quite ingenious. The text is written in ink, with a brush made of very fine hair, on a sheet of paper which is inverted and pasted on a wooden tablet, when the paper has become thoroughly dry, its surface is scraped off quickly and with great skill, until nothing but a fine tissue bearing the characters remains on the wooden tablets. Then, with a steel graver, the workman cuts away the surface following the outlines of the characters until these alone stand out in low relief.124

120 121

Zürcher 1997a, p. 121. For a comparison of Jesuit moral tracts with Chinese morality books, see Waltner 1994, pp. 422-448.

122

Zürcher 1997a, p. 122.

123

For a study on print techniques and designs from Jianyang, Fujian, during the Song–Yuan– Ming transition, see Chia 2002, pp. 22-62. For some other studies on Ming printing industry, see, for example, K.T. Wu 1943, pp. 203-260; Brook 1998, pp. 647-664; Chia 2007, pp. 143-196; Tobie 2007, pp. 787-817.

124

Gallagher 1953, pp. 20-21.

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As a curious observer, Ricci carefully described the details of how a woodblock was made and used in printing, a process too ordinary and ubiquitous for a native writer to mention. He was much impressed by the simplicity, efficiency, and low cost of Chinese printing, which was incredibly fast and could possibly reach “fifteen hundred copies in a single day” in the hands of a skilled printer. The blocks could be reused and modified as often as one needed. Nonetheless, the cost of printing a book was “ridiculously low,” which naturally led to “exceedingly large numbers of books in circulation here.” Ricci was so amazed by this art that he said: “In truth, the whole method is so simple that one is tempted to try it for himself after having watched the process.”125 A missionary with great foresight, Ricci did not miss the opportunity to use established Chinese printing and book culture to facilitate the growth of early Chinese Catholic communities. In his journals and letters, Ricci often mentioned the advantages of spreading the gospel with printed books. There were only a small number of Jesuits in China by 1700. 126 The limitation in manpower could be compensated for by printing books that could be disseminated to those places difficult to reach. In addition to this practical concern, Ricci saw printing Christian books as an adaptation to the Chinese (especially Confucian) fashion in spreading a religion or a school of thought. It therefore constituted a decisive missionary strategy – the “apostolate through books.”127 Except for a small number of scientific works officially collected and reprinted in the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 (Complete Library of the Four Treasures), the majority of early Jesuit imprints were produced through sike 私刻 (private printing).128 Ever since the Song dynasty, sike had become a common pattern next to official printing and commercial printing. Ricci in his journals gives us a clue for such a choice: “We have derived great benefit from this method of Chinese printing, as we employ the domestic help in our homes to strike off copies of the books on religious and scientific subjects which we translate into Chinese from the languages in which they were written originally.”129 To hire Chinese scribes, carvers, printers, and binders to work in the church probably served a few practical concerns: convenience for supervision, low risk of official censorship, and low cost in handling. However, Ricci never explicitly said that he set up a printing house in the church. Neither did the Jesuits attempt to establish permanent facilities for printing under their direct ownership and operation. 130 Some of them would order 125

Gallagher 1953, p. 21.

126

According to Standaert’s study, there were 7 Jesuits in China in 1600, and the number rose to 67 in 1700. See HCC 1, p. 307.

127

Ibid., pp. 600-631.

128

Fang Hao, “Li Zhizao jike Tianxue chuhan kao” 李之藻輯刻《天學初函》考, in TXCH, vol. 1, pp. 1-2.

129

Gallagher 1953, 21.

130

In this case I do not agree with Zürcher’s positive assessment of Fuzhou and Quanzhou churches as centres of the Jesuit printing enterprise. They may have been centres for the

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outside help and pay the workers separately for various tasks in the printing process. A good example is François de Rougemont (Lu Riman 魯日滿, 1624– 1676), who carefully recorded in his account book regular expenditures during the last two years of his mission in Jiangsu province. The costs for printing doctrinal texts accounted for the largest share – purchases of paper and ink, and payments for hand-copying, carving, typesetting, printing, correcting, and binding. Most transactions took place in Changshu 常熟, Suzhou 蘇州 and Hangzhou, where Rougemont was stationed and could easily hire skilled workers as needed.131 Many Chinese were impressed by the elegant and luxurious appearance of Western books brought by the Jesuits, but their impact on Chinese printing seemed to be little. For example, in Kezuo zhuiyu 客座贅語 (Idle Talks with Guests, 1617), Gu Qiyuan 顧起元 (1565–1628) writes: They [the Jesuits] brought along many books printed in their countries, all with blank paper printed on both sides and words horizontally arranged. The paper is like Yunnan cotton paper, thick and durable, with fine ink imprint. In between are some images of figures and buildings depicted with lines that are as thin as hair. The books are bound like those in the Chinese Song folding style. They are protected by painted leather all around. The edges are joined and tied together by gold, silver or copper knots. The upper and lower edges are smeared with golden paint. When it is opened, all leaves look new; and when it is closed, it looks like a gilded plate.132

Gu was keen enough to observe both differences and similarities between a European book and a Chinese book in terms of paper, ink, text layout, illustrations, binding, cover, and paint. However, the foreign books were largely seen as exotic objects by Gu and other Chinese, who would never doubt the prestigious tradition of Chinese printing. Neither did the Jesuits make much effort to introduce and practice European printing technology. They were more interested in promoting other aspects of Western culture new to Chinese, while the advanced Chinese printing industry seemed efficient and economic enough to propagate their Christian writings. The same also applied to Aleni’s Fujian mission. Aleni and Fujian converts did not give explicit accounts on how they printed their own works or reprinted works by earlier or contemporary Jesuits from other regions. They very likely followed the pattern of private printing, i.e., hiring some outside workers to process a manuscript into imprints. Though many of their works bear the names of churches in different places, such as Qinyi Church (Qinyi tang 欽一堂) in Fuzhou and Jingjiao Church (Jingjiao tang 景教堂) in Quanzhou, little information is found on whether the churches ever owned and operated a printing house. The Jesuits and their converts tended to use available production and distribution of Christian texts, but they were by no means proper printing houses in a professional sense. See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 37-38. 131

Golvers 1999, pp. 95-237.

132

Kezuo zhuiyu, p. 728.

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local printing facilities and resources. Not surprisingly, a place with a highly developed printing enterprise may have helped them produce more texts than in other locations. Fuzhou, for example, had been a printing centre since the Song dynasty, and its continuous development in official and private printing made it the major rival of such commercial printing centers as Jianyang 建陽 and Sibao 四堡. 133 This condition explains why Fuzhou produced the biggest portion of Jesuit imprints during the 17th century. The amount of Jesuit imprints in Fuzhou is comparable to major Jesuit publishers in other regions during the late Ming period.134 In this respect, a catalogue made by Qinyi Church in Fuzhou deserves special attention. There are a total of 52 titles being listed in the catalogue.135 Some in the list are reprints of works done by the early Jesuits, including Matteo Ricci’s Jiaoyou lun 交友 論 (On Friendship, ca. 1595) and Tianzhu shiyi. There are also some Jesuit works reprinted in the early Qing period, including Vagnone’s Shengmu xingshi 聖母行實 (Biography of the Holy Mother, 1631) and Aleni’s Shengmeng ge. As a result, the time span for new titles and reprints listed in this catalogue covers more than two thirds of the 17th century, which was also the heyday of the Jesuit mission in China. As far as authorship is concerned, the Jesuits’ contributions accumulate a total of 46 titles, while only a few works are written either by elite scholars (e.g., Yang Tingyun and Xu Guangqi) or by local activists (e.g., Li Jiubiao and Li Jiugong in Fujian). However, a closer look at the list of collaborators shows that Chinese converts played a significant role in transcription, proofreading, embel-

133

Wu Shideng 1996, pp. 68-71; id. 1997, pp. 53-71.

134

This observation is based on the results of a keyword search by church publishers between 1600 and 1700 in the CCT-Database. The Beijing kanxing Tianzhu shengjiao shuban mu 北 京刊行天主聖教書板目 (Catalogue of Christian Books Published in Beijing, ca. 1684) lists 123 titles. The Zhejiang Hangzhou fu Tianzhu tang kanshu banmu 浙江杭州府天主堂刊書 板目 (Catalogue of Books Published by the Hangzhou Church, Zhejiang, ca. 1690) lists 40 titles. The Guangdong sheng Fangjige huitang shuban mulu 廣東聖方濟各會堂書板目錄 (Catalogue of Books Published by the Franciscan Church in Guangdong, ca. 1700) lists 16 titles. These numbers serve as a rough comparison with the Qinyi church catalogue of 51 titles to be analyzed below.

135

There is currently one copy in the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Borgia Cinese, 473, appendix) and another copy in Bibliothèque nationale de France (Chinois, 7046-IX). The first line of the catalogue is 福州府欽一堂書板目錄開後, followed by an unknown phrase 唫萱集, which may likely be the name of the compiler. This catalogue contains 52 main titles (not 51, as described in the CCT-Database). Two works of Pantoja – Guishen shuo 鬼 神說 and Renlei yuanshi shuo 人類原始說 – are attached below the main title Pangzi yiquan 龐 子 遺 詮 . Three other works, including Yulan Xifang jiyao 御 覽 西 方 紀 要 , Ershiwu yan 二十五言, and Si shuo 死說, are attached below the main titles No. 25, No. 35, and No. 39 respectively. A complete list of all titles in the catalogue is provided in Appendix II of the present book. Xie Shuishun and Li Ting (1997, pp. 360-361) have provided a list of titles, albeit with some mistakes and not in a consistent order.

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lishment, and composing prefaces throughout the editorial process. The catalogue thus indicates a typical collaborative pattern in early Jesuit printing. Moreover, the catalogue testifies to Aleni’s prominent role in the Jesuit printing enterprise in Fujian. Throughout his life in China, Aleni published 23 works and a world map.136 Fifteen works (not including the two abridged versions of Dizui zhenggui and Misa jiyi) are listed in the catalogue of the Qinyi Church, taking up almost 1/3 of the total 51 titles. No other Jesuit or Chinese authors in the list can be compared to him. Even Ricci who likewise wrote more than 20 Chinese works has only six titles listed in the same catalogue. Given that the majority of these texts were printed in the 1630s and 1640s, the golden years of Aleni’s mission, this catalogue further proves his key role in promoting the Jesuit “publishing boom” in late Ming Fujian. Aleni’s influences on Jesuit printing were evident both during his life time and after his death in 1649. On the one hand, the Fujian converts who would consider themselves disciples of Aleni passionately collected notes of his homilies to print the eight-volume work Kouduo richao. Inspired by the Jesuit master, they continued to devote themselves to religious writings and publications in the early Qing. On the other hand, many of Aleni’s works were reprinted and adapted to certain new versions for a broader circulation among Chinese converts. His Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe, for instance, saw at least three later adaptations and was reprinted more than ten times throughout the Qing period.137 In addition to the works listed in the Qinyi Church catalogue, other churches in Fuzhou also contributed to 17th-century Jesuit printing. A few works by Aleni, Ricci, and Vagnone were printed by the Minzhong Tianzhu Church (Minzhong Tianzhu tang 閩中天主堂, also called Minzhong Jingjiao tang 閩中景教堂).138 Though without a catalogue of its publications, the latter church may have also produced a number of Christian works comparable to the Qinyi Church. Compared to Fuzhou, the church publishers in Quanzhou produced considerably fewer works during the 17th century. The most well-known among them was Jinjiang Jingjiao tang 晉江景教堂, which first printed several of Aleni’s important works, such as Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe, Shengmeng ge, Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, and Xifang dawen. These texts were printed during the mid-1630s, when Aleni expanded his mission to Quanzhou under the support of Zhang Geng and other local converts.139 The imprints of Aleni’s works can give us a sense of the physical look of the Jesuit publications printed in Fujian, which appears to follow the normal pattern 136

For a list of Aleni’s works, see Pan Feng-chuan 2002, p. 46. Note that the work Shengmu meigui jing shiwu duan tuxiang is not mentioned in Pan’s list.

137

Song Gang 2011b.

138

This church presumably was the first Jesuit residence built by Aleni, which has been mentioned before. According to Lin Jinshui’s study, it is different from the Qinyi Church and it has a few other names, such as Sanshan tang 三山堂, Fu tang 福堂, and Chijian Tianzhu tang 敕建天主堂. See id. 1994b, p. 81.

139

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 86-94.

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of Chinese woodblock designs. They are bound books (roughly 20 cm in length and 14 cm in width) stitched through four or six holes on the spine edge. Every paper sheet in it is folded along the middle half line, with printed scripts facing outside. For the detailed layout of a two-page folio, there are normally doubleborders on all four sides. The baikou 白口 (white mouth), at the central part normally bears a single or double yuwei 魚尾 (fish tail), together with the volume number and folio number. The majority of these texts have 19 characters per column and 9 columns per page. In addition, most of these texts adopt the popular craftsman’s or Song style, which had already become a hallmark of Ming printing practices since the mid-16th century.140 As far as the content of a text is concerned, Aleni adopts in his works typical components of a Chinese scholarly book. Following the cover page are prefaces written by the author and his acquaintances from a specific region or even the whole empire. Then there is the table of contents, after which explanatory notes or editorial principles could be added. However, it is interesting to note that Aleni and his confreres introduced a new practice, i.e., presenting the imprimatur – the statement of approval – before the main text. It says, “According to the regulation in our religion, a translation or an original work cannot be published unless it has been scrutinized three times (of its contents). The names of readers must also be inscribed afterwards.”141 By setting such a new standard for their imprints, the Jesuits not only observed the Roman Church’s strict policies on publication, but also offered the Chinese readers a proof of the authenticity and authority of their writings. Inside the main text, Chinese punctuation and highlighting marks (e.g., circles, single or double short lines, and square frames) for special terms were adopted. In addition, whenever there is a reference to God, rendered in Chinese as zhu 主 or tianzhu 天主, a blank space or a blank line is given to show respect. There is no doubt that the Jesuits would prioritize the Christian subjects introduced in their books as the first and foremost task. However, they also knew very well that success in conversion also depended on other matters. To a certain extent, printing served as a convenient means for network building, in addition to its original function in transmitting knowledge and faith. Hence, prefaces, personal and society seals, and honorific titles featured in many Ming and Qing Jesuit imprints. They not only consolidated the internal connections among members within a Christian community, but they also built certain external links with nonChristians. As the Qinyi Church catalogue shows, Ricci and Aleni have succeeded in attracting pro-Christian scholars and officials to write prefaces in promotion of their works. Aleni received prefaces by Ye Xianggao, Su Maoxiang, Huang Jingfang 黃景昉 (1596–1662), He Qiaoyuan 何喬遠 (1558–1632), and Zhang 140

McDermott 2005, p. 80.

141

The quoted statement is based on the one in Aleni’s XXCS. The original Chinese text is: 遵 教規，凡譯經典、著書，必三次看詳，方允付梓，並鐫閱訂姓氏於後 (p. 48).

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Weishu 張維樞 (ca. 1563–1630), all of them high officials in Beijing and Nanjing. Considering their non-Christian background, their prefaces did not go much further than acknowledging basic Christian concepts and Western culture (e.g., geography and education). Though they might not be willing to convert, friendly ties had been built that might be resorted to in times of need, for example, in the 1637–1638 anti-Christian incident. Networking by means of prefaces can also be illustrated by another interesting aspect of Jesuit printing in the 17th century – the frequent use of seals at the end of each preface. It was an age-old custom for Chinese preface writers to stamp personal seals for purposes of authentication and aesthetic appreciation. In the same fashion many Jesuits also made seals inscribed with their Chinese names, e.g., Aleni in the preface for his Xingxue cushu and Giacomo Rho (Luo Yagu 羅 雅谷, 1593–1638) in his preface for Vagnone’s Shengmu xingshi. These Chinesestyle seals can also be regarded as part of the Jesuit adaptation strategy. In addition to personal seals, we can find in many prefaces a somewhat similar pattern of seals bearing the logo “IHS” of the Society of Jesus. This pattern differs greatly from Jesuit seals used in Europe.142 Moreover, in Aleni’s preface to Misa jiyi, there appears a seal inscribed with four characters Yesuhui shi 耶穌會士, the Chinese form of address to the Jesuits. Below it there is the “IHS” logo seal together with a seal inscribed with the church publisher, Jingjiao tang yin 景教堂 印.143 Thus, Aleni presented a hybrid pattern of seal-making which combines the Chinese form with Christian content. Examining the works by Aleni and other Jesuits can show us the remarkable success of Jesuit printing culture in the late Ming context. It helped shape a public sphere for the Jesuits and Chinese converts to transmit and share Tianxue. More importantly, they would utilize printed books as a type of non-profit, cultural capital to reaffirm their collective Christian–Confucian identity. 2.1.5. Aleni’s Strategy and Dialogism

The above overview of Aleni’s mission and publications in Fujian reveals several notable aspects in terms of his missionary strategy. First, Aleni consciously combined intellectuality and religiosity throughout his mission. This synthesis had its prototype in the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition developed in the late medieval period, and it was a vital component of the Tianxue promoted by the Jesuits during the late Ming. Some scholars argue that Aleni had shifted his missionary strategy from an intellectual approach to a missionary or pastoral approach after 1629. It does not seem necessary to make such a clear-cut separation. The subjects covered in his works published in Fujian were not exclusively religious, but often combined with scientific and other intellectual themes. It is true that Aleni had more contacts with lower literati and commoners when the mission showed signs of prosperity in the 1630s, but to me this seems to indicate a natural expan142

XXCS, p. 84.

143

MSJY, p. 482.

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sion of his strategy of combining the philosophical and doctrinal aspects of Tianxue, rather than an embrace of the latter in the place of the former. After all, for Aleni sciences and humanities were the first necessary steps towards a higher stage, that is, theology. As he clearly states in Xixue fan: If the Learning of Heaven [Tianxue, here specifically referring to theology] does not have the Learning of Man [renxue, i.e., humanities], one will have no means to find the entry; if one gets the Learning of Man first but does not obtain the Learning on Heaven, one will have no means to find a destination. The ultimate reason to follow a teacher is that one must get through the two [steps of] learning before one can make [one’s own] achievements.144

The diversified topics covered in Aleni’s works, no matter before or after 1629, prove that the intellectual and spiritual concerns indeed went hand in hand for him to represent the entirety of Tianxue. In this sense, though the scientific topics only take up a small part in the conversations recorded in Kouduo richao, it would be inappropriate to ignore them in order to prove that Aleni consciously changed his focus to religious topics in his Fujian mission.145 As we shall see in the next chapter, the scientific topics were equally important. They created a common ground, upon which Aleni and the converts could not only project scientific knowledge already introduced by other Jesuits in China but also engage in active exchanges between Chinese and Western scientific traditions. In addition, Aleni’s double identity as a Confucian master (xiansheng) and a Catholic priest (duode) also deserves our special attention. The former was intended to gain an easier acceptance for his speaking and acting in a Chinese context, while the latter fulfilled his principal duty to represent the orthodox teaching of the Lord of Heaven. It seems that Aleni’s successful creation of his Christian– Confucian image can be seen as the summit of all former Jesuit efforts to change the identity of the Christian other from an inferior position to a superior one, largely by means of dialogic exchanges. In Xixue fan, Aleni says that his ambition is to harmonize the learning of the sages/saints from the “Eastern Sea” and from the “Western Sea.” He continuously put efforts in this direction when he introduced Tianxue to the Confucian converts, while the latter echoed his efforts in one way or another, for example, Yang Tingyun’s promotion of a ConfucianChristian model in his apologetic works. It is not surprising that when Aleni entered Fujian he also won respect from local literati with learned talks, as is clearly shown in Sanshan lunxue ji. Even after he expanded the range to include not only Confucian elite but also lower-level literati and commoners, he maintained his double identity, which can also be proved by the master–disciple dialogues in 144

XXF, p. 56.

145

For example, Zürcher claims that in the Fujian mission, “Western science and technology play a very secondary role,” see id. 1990, p. 439. But in a later article, he somewhat modified this statement saying that it is a fact that “the sciences may have played a much more prominent role in Aleni’s conversations,” see id. 1997b, p. 607. Criveller agrees with Zürcher’s first argument when analyzing the texts in Kouduo richao. As a result, dialogues related to science in this work are left undiscussed. See Criveller 1997, pp. 303-304.

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Kouduo richao. The topics they discuss may be either Christian or Western, but the diverse voices presented are typically Confucian. As discussed already in the analysis of Sanshan lunxue ji and Wanwu zhenyuan, Aleni’s adoption of the Confucian voice is selective. By further improving Ricci’s stance, he on the one hand criticizes many Neo-Confucian concepts, including li and qi, and on the other hand quotes from Confucian classics to indicate that his Tianxue is an alternative approach to restore Confucianism to its pristine purity. As we will see later, he also frequently highlights the issue in his conversations with the Confucian converts in Kouduo richao.146 The hybrid identity, however, did not solve all problems in Aleni’s mission, and he held ambiguous attitudes towards at least two major issues – converts taking the civil service examinations and the worship of ancestors, Confucius, and national or local deities. Interestingly, his singular identity enabled him to provide an answer to the controversial Chinese ancestral worship different from other Jesuits and the Spanish friars. The previous Jesuits, though often in disagreement in private, publicly ignored the existence of religious elements in ancestral worship. On the contrary, the friars, shocked by idolatrous Chinese rituals, would take an uncompromising stance against them, but they failed in their radical efforts to completely remove these practices, which were deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Aleni’s solution sounds effective and practicable, if not perfect. In his eyes, some of the problematic rituals could be purified and reformed, in a way that they became a tolerable part of the Christian ritualistic system. If the ancestors, Confucius, City Gods, Lord Guan, or Buddha would be submitted to the authority of the Lord of Heaven, and if their roles could be assigned by the Lord of Heaven in the same way as Catholic saints and angels, why would he oppose them and try to eliminate them from a similar hierarchical, universal Christian religion? With this logic, Aleni pursued a subtle strategy, namely, to negotiate between the Christian and the Chinese and create an all-embracing form of Christianity by means of dialogic hybridization. As a master and a priest, he realized this vision through his threefold instruction, i.e., by speech, conduct, and mind, as perceived by the converts. There is an interesting episode in Li Sixuan’s biography that can best summarize Aleni’s life-long effort. It records that, during his final two-year stay at Yanping, Aleni once asked the devotees to make a tablet for him, with the inscription “Hall of Fourfold Grief” (si you tang 四憂堂) 147 Li explains that this special use of “Fourfold Grief” refers to what Confucius says to his disciples in the Lunyu, “The leaving virtue without proper cultivation; the not thoroughly discussing what is learned; not being able to move towards righteousness of which a knowledge is gained; and not being able to change what is not

146

For a thought-provoking study on the Jesuit–Neo-Confucian complex in the revival and reshaping of Confucian intellectual tradition in the late Ming, see Wills 1994b.

147

XHAXSXL, p. 257. Zürcher 1997a, p. 117.

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good: these are the things which occasion me distress.” 148 Undoubtedly, Aleni felt deep regret for not being able to continue his teaching of Tianxue during wartime. The feeling of sadness pointed to a missionary motive, but it was expressed in a Confucian manner. Another important aspect of Aleni’s strategy lies in the regional influence of his mission, as compared to the Jesuit influence at the Ming court. To him, working in a remote province entailed certain adjustments in the implementation of this strategy. Unlike the Jesuits who socialized with high officials and elite scholars at the imperial court in Beijing, Aleni rather targeted the middle stratum between the high culture and low culture. He was confident to work in this complex situation, first securing support of officials, gentry, and scholars in major cities and then expanding the influence among lower class people in rural areas. To a certain extent, it was the same top-down strategy already established by Ricci decades ago, but Aleni tended to adopt it within the Fujian regional context.

2.2. Fujian Converts and Catholic Communities From the 1620s to the 1640s, a group of Chinese converts emerged in Fujian around such missionary bases as Fuzhou and Quanzhou. Some of them, including Li Jiubiao and Zhang Geng, became active leaders for the newly established Catholic communities. Considering themselves disciples of Aleni, they assisted him to promote Christianity by means of two patterns, one being family-based and the other being travel-based. In the first pattern, we may find that both Li and Zhang worked towards the conversion of their own families. It turned out to be an effective way to found basic units of a Christian community. From here the gospel work radiated to friends, relatives, and other types of social contacts. Such a pattern is clearly shown in the stories of Li Jiugong’s Lixiu yijian 勵修一鑑 (Mirror to Encourage Self-cultivation, 1635–1645), in which he records various cases of the conversion of an entire family. In the second pattern, we may find that the shortage of Jesuits in late Ming Fujian turned Aleni into an “itinerant missionary” who frequently visited one place after another across the province.149 Chinese converts again played a noticeable role in this pattern. Not only did they invite Aleni to visit their hometowns and accompany him to travel around a town, 148

Here I use Legge’s translation, only changing the word “solicitude” to “distress” to match Zürcher’s translation. See Legge 2001, vol. 1, p. 195.

149

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 63. In Kouduo richao, three confreres of Aleni working in the Fuzhou area are mentioned: Andrzej Rudomina, Bento de Mattos, and Simão da Cunha. They did not have much overlapping in service, since Rudomina died early in 1632 and de Mattos went to Hainan in 1635. For biographical accounts on the three Jesuits, see Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 74-77. According to Dehergne, in 1645 Aleni supervised five Jesuits in Fujian: Martino Martini (1614–1661) and Antonio de Gouvea (1592–1677) in Fuzhou, Pietro Canevari in Quanzhou, Manuel Dias in Jianning, and da Cunha in the Yanping– Jianning–Shaowu region. This to my knowledge is the maximum number of a Jesuit group working in Fujian during the late Ming, likely a result of their retreat from northern regions before the Manchu conquest. See Dehergne 1957, p. 22.

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city, or prefecture, but they also visited other converts in the neighboring cities or prefectures. The fast growth of the Catholic communities in Fujian could not have been possible without the efforts of these converts, especially their leaders such as the Li brothers in Fuzhou and Zhang Geng in Quanzhou. 2.2.1. Li Brothers in Haikou (Fuzhou)

Li Jiubiao, the chief compiler of Kouduo richao, was from a Confucian family in Haikou (often referred to as Longjiang 龍江), in the district of Fuqing to the southwest of Fuzhou. His grandfather Li Cai 李裁 was a scholar and friend of Ye Xianggao.150 In Li Jiubiao’s generation, there were more than fourteen brothers or cousins. Among them, his younger brother Li Jiugong not only figured in Kouduo richao but also participated in its compilation.151 The two brothers were baptized in Fuzhou by Aleni in 1628. 152 Jiubiao received his Christian name Dewang 德望 (Stephen) and Jiugong received the name Duomo 多默 (Thomas).153 In the later parts of Kouduo richao, two other brothers of Li Jiubiao are also referred to by their names. 154 Likely due to the conversion of Li family members, Haikou became a new mission centre that Aleni visited frequently in the 1630s. Kouduo richao records more specific information about Li Jiubiao between February 13, 1630 and July 4, 1640. Since 1630, he regularly took the civil service examinations in Fuzhou as a candidate (at the entry level of xiucai 秀才), but in 1637 he decided to give up the hope for an official career through this path.155

150

Li became the Instructor of Chong’an County in Jianning Prefecture in 1616. Ye even wrote a preface for his work Mingchen lunshi 明臣論世 (Discussions of Ming Officials on the Statecrafts). See Dudink 1997, p. 154, fn. 84; p. 180.

151

Ibid., pp. 180-181. Li Jiubiao was in charge of all eight volumes of Kouduo richao. Li Jiugong helped in reference, revision, or proofreading for volumes one, two, four, and eight, and he figures three times (1631, 1632, and 1634) in Kouduo richao.

152

At the beginning of Kouduo richao, dated in January 1630, Li Jiubiao says that he has been apart from Master Ai for a whole year. Thus his meeting with Aleni and baptism must have taken place before January 1629. This is affirmed by Li Jiugong in his preface to Lixiu yijian, saying that he and his elder brother Li Jiubiao went to Fuzhou for civil service examinations in 1628, met Aleni there, and got baptized. See KDRC, p. 38; LXYJ, p. 432.

153

HCC 1, p. 401. Interestingly, Li Jiubiao never signed with his Christian name in any of his writings, while Li Jiugong signed with Duomo only at Aleni’s death in 1649, including a partial draft of Aleni’s biography. See A. Chan 2002, pp. 56, 68, 69.

154

The first brother is Li Shiyan 李士彥, with the courtesy name Qidi 其迪. See KDRC, pp. 229-233. The second brother has the courtesy name Qiji 其績, sharing the generation mark qi with Li Jiubiao (Qixiang 其香) and Li Jiugong (Qixu 其叙) and Li Shiyan. His full name is unknown, though. See KDRC, p. 581; Dudink 1997, p. 181.

155

The conversations on February 13, 1630 and March 1, 1631 indicate that Li went to Fuzhou to attend the local level civil exams. Another conversation on December 8, 1630 indicates Li’s concern for the relation between civil exams and geomancy at this time. In his

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In winter 1631, Li visited his in-laws in East Guangdong. He accompanied Aleni to Putian and visited en route Zhang Geng in Taoyuan 桃源 (Yongchun 永春) and Zhuge Xi 諸 葛 羲 in Quanzhou. On January 20, 1632, Li arrived at Zhangzhou and met Yan Zanhua, who later invited Aleni to the city to preach to a small group of local converts and to administer the mass liturgy. Li wrote that Yan, though far away from Zhangzhou upon his arrival, miraculously came back at night before Li’s departure. Li gave his notes of Aleni’s instructions to Yan and asked him to help with the revisions. This was the first stage of the compilation of Kouduo richao.156 According to Li Jiubiao’s record, de Mattos came to Fuzhou in April 1632. It seems that he came to help due the bad physical condition of Andrzej Rudomina (Lu Ande 盧安德, 1596–1631), Aleni’s first confrere in Fujian.157 Likely due to the same reason, Aleni came back to Fuzhou in July or August. He visited Li’s hometown near Haikou. In September, shortly after Rudomina died, Li received a letter with a compiled text featuring the same title as his Kouduo richao. It was a collection of notes of Aleni’s instructions recorded by Yan Zanhua, who in early 1632 had visited Quanzhou to meet Aleni, and Yan Weisheng 顏維聖, a native of Quanzhou. Their notes, along with the notes made by Li Jiubiao, became the main content of volume three in Kouduo richao.158 In March 1633, Aleni went to Zhangzhou at the invitation of Yan Zanhua. Though he had been away from Fuzhou for months, de Mattos was in charge and managed to visit Li and give him spiritual instructions. In August, Li attended the civil service examinations in Fuzhou. There he met Yan Zanhua again, who showed him more notes about Aleni’s teachings and encouraged him to compile one more volume of Kouduo richao. Chen Kesheng 陳克生, another convert who figured in Kouduo richao and punctuated the texts of volume four, visited Li and urged him to publish the notes to spread Master Ai’s teaching.159 Since there are no forewords to the following volumes, it is not clear how Li was able to interact with converts from other places to compile and finish this collective work. As is shown in volume five (November 24, 1633 to June 29, 1634), Aleni was in Jianning in November 1633 and in Taoyuan in April of the next year. Then he returned to Fuzhou, spending a few months with Li Jiubiao and other converts. In September 1634, he went to Quanzhou again. Li was only able to engage in discussions with de Mattos. As is recorded in volume six (July 29, 1634 to September 25, 1636), da Cunha arrived and joined de Mattos in early preface to volume four, dated on the winter solstice in 1633, Li mentioned that he attended the exams again. 156

KDRC, pp.167-169. Li Jiubiao gives Zhuge’s title, Minbu 民部 (Ministry of Revenue), and his name is identified by Zürcher as Zhuge Xi 諸葛羲. See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 322.

157

For accounts of the life of Rudomina, see Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, pp. 191-193; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 74-75; Song Gang 2011a, pp. 450-452.

158

KDRC, pp. 169-172, 245, 279.

159

Ibid., pp. 245-248, 256.

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1635. When he visited Li in Haikou in November of that year, Li Jiubiao learned from him and recorded a few entries about his teaching. As for Aleni, he returned to Fuzhou around September 1636 and visited Li Jiubiao’s hometown on September 24, 1636 to celebrate a newly founded church. From 1637 onward, however, there is no record from Li. Volume seven (February 21 to October 28, 1637) appears to be mostly based on the notes of those converts from Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Taoyuan.160 As has been mentioned before, the conversation between Aleni and Zhu Jizuo 朱繼祚 in 1638 is the only one recorded in Kouduo richao for the whole year. Li Jiubiao puts it at the beginning of volume eight (September 23, 1638 to July 4, 1640). It is not clear whether he still kept regular contacts with the Jesuits in Fuzhou, including Manuel Dias who recently arrived. 161 Yet the anti-Christian situation at that time apparently affected the activities of the Jesuits and converts in the provincial capital. Only when Aleni returned to the city, did Li Jiubiao visit the Fuzhou Church in July 1639 and met his master again. By then the two had not seen each other for almost three years. The records from this point till the end of the work take place in Fuzhou and Haikou, and Li does not explain the reason for not compiling any further records. When he visited Aleni on July 10, 1639, Li Jiubiao said nothing about the anti-Christian incident. However, on August 20, in another conversation on the different teaching styles of the Jesuit masters from whom he had learned in the past ten years, Li shows his keen concern about the missionary methods of the Jesuit masters, while bearing in mind the recent conflict between the friars and the Jesuits. Aleni answers that the Jesuits adapt themselves to different capabilities of the converts. The explanation is fairly delicate, since it partly addresses Li’s implicit uneasy concern, partly reaffirms the Jesuits’ consistent accommodation strategy, and partly responds to the friars who would not compromise to the special conditions in the China mission.162 Li Jiubiao not only presented himself as a devoted convert, but he also showed interests in the practical knowledge of Tianxue, especially astronomy and geography. As we will see in the next chapter, most discussions on scientific topics are initiated by Li Jiubiao. Aleni finds in him a good student to listen to his twofold instruction – practical learning on the one hand and spiritual, moral learning on the other. Among the scientific topics Li discusses with Aleni, those related to time and time-keeping make up a remarkable portion. Li appears to be very acute with regard to such matters as the time differences which result from the Earth’s spherical shape, the movements of the Sun and Moon in calculating the beginning and end of a solar or a lunar month, polar days and polar nights, the difference between Western and Chinese calendar, and the different directions 160

KDRC, pp. 322, 334, 338, 393, 406, 435, 441.

161

Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, p. 108.

162

KDRC, pp. 543, 562-563. For a translation of the second conversation, see Dudink 1997, p. 161. But he mistakenly dates the conversation to August 18.

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of the Big Dipper to mark the four seasons. When raising his questions, Li consciously refers to established Chinese concepts in comparison with the Western ones. Li’s interest in Chinese conceptions of time and time-keeping is clear in his chronological arrangement of all entries in Kouduo richao and a group of special terms that he is fond to use. For example, Li dates the time in his preface as “the fourth year of Emperor Chongzhen’s reign, a year of chongguang xieqia 重光協 洽, the sun situated at jiao 角.”163 The term chongguang is an ancient expression for xin 辛, one of the ten Heavenly Stems (tiangan 天干). Correspondingly, the term xieqia is an ancient expression of wei 未, one of the twelve Earthly Branches (dizhi 地支). Jiao, on the other hand, is one of the twenty-eight stars in Chinese astronomy. When the sun is seen at the jiao direction on the star map, it refers to the eighth month of a lunar year.164 Li also employs the same method to date his introductions to volume three and volume four in Kouduo richao. 165 Among the late Ming Confucian converts, only a few intentionally adopted this type of dates in their works and prefaces. 166 Moreover, Li Jiubiao presents a remarkable fusion of time-keeping with a parallel use of Chinese lunar dates and Catholic liturgical dates throughout Kouduo richao. As a result, the shaping of such a Chinese-Christian temporal system may also be seen as a key factor leading to the hybrid socio-religious life style which the Jesuits and converts had to create and modify through active negotiation.167 Thanks to Li’s serious attitude towards both Chinese and Western time-keeping methods, his accounts are highly reliable in recording the daily religious life of late Ming Fujian converts. Though never stated explicitly, Li Jiubiao’s intention to continue and renew the Confucian intellectual tradition is quite visible in his reception and reinterpretation of Western knowledge from a Chinese angle. He wanted to realize this goal through conventional means: civil service exams. There is no doubt that Aleni told them about the successful convert-officials, including Xu Guangqi, Li 163

KDRC, p. 24; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 187.

164

An early reference of this expression can be found, for example, in Liji zhengyi 禮記正義 (Annotation of the Book of Rites), in ESSS, vol. 1, p. 324.

165

Li’s foreword to volume three is dated as “the fifth year of Emperor Chongzhen’s reign (i.e., 1632), a year of xuanmo tuntan 玄默涒灘, the sun situates at yi 翼.” For the foreword to volume four, Li gives the date as “the sixth year of Emperor Chongzhen’s reign (i.e., 1633), a year of zhaoyang zuo’e 昭陽作噩, the day of changzhi 長至 (winter solstice, i.e., December 21).”

166

For example, in his Tianxue chuhan, Li Zhizao wrote prefaces or postscripts for eight works. All except one are dated in a roughly consistent manner. As a comparison, Yang Tingyun wrote prefaces for three works, two of them undated, while Xu Guangqi wrote five prefaces, two of them undated.

167

In one of his studies on the Fu’an Christian community during the 17th century, Menegon presents detailed analysis on how a Chinese-Christian time was created through negotiations between the Dominican Friars and local Chinese converts. See Menegon 2005, pp. 184-243.

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Zhizao, and Yang Tingyun, whom he befriended in the metropolitan cities. The support Aleni received from Ye Xianggao and other Fujian scholar-officials must have encouraged similar hopes in Li Jiubiao to strive in this direction. Unfortunately, due to certain untold reasons, he did not succeed in the provincial level exams held between 1628 and 1636.168 Li’s effort stopped in the summer of 1637, as is stated in his preface to Zhenshu. 169 This multi-volume compendium deals with various practical issues on Confucian statecraft – how to govern the country, reform the economy, and remove the evils of the time. Its compilation involves his family members, his students, and friends, including those who helped him compile Kouduo richao and members of the Restoration Society (Fushe 復社).170 Even in diverting his ambition from the pursuit of an official career to acquiring fame in academic writings, we still can see Li’s self-consciousness as a Confucian intellectual searching for ways to make his voice heard in his time. While compiling Zhenshu, Li continued to gather notes of his own and other converts to finish the last volume of Kouduo richao. However, likely because he put so much effort in the secular Zhenshu, he was mildly criticized by Aleni. To the Jesuit master, focusing on writings about the Lord of Heaven would lead to more fruitful results.171 Kouduo richao and Zhenshu are two essential works of Li Jiubiao. Among other writings, one is a postscript he wrote for the biography of Ricci compiled by Aleni, in which he praises Ricci’s broad learning, his exemplary speech and conduct, as well as his great influence.172 Li also wrote a postscript to Shengmeng ge, another work by Aleni. Here, he shows a pessimistic view by comparing the worldly life to a dream.173 Moreover, Li served as a proofreader of Lixiu yijian, one of the major works compiled by his brother Li Jiugong.174 It is likely that he died soon after the Manchu conquest of Fujian in the late 1640s.175 As for Li Jiugong, he survived and lived under the new regime till 1681. We do not have detailed information on his life except for a few dialogues with Aleni and scattered messages in his writings. On May 4, 1631 Li Jiugong accompanied Li Jiubiao on a visit to Aleni at the Fuzhou Church. On September 12, 1632, when Aleni visited Haikou, Li Jiugong asked him a question about the fate of ancient Chinese sages who had not known Tianxue in their life and could not 168

Between his baptism in 1628 and his withdrawal in 1637, three provincial exams were held in 1630, 1633, and 1636 respectively. Li Jiubiao explicitly indicated that he attended the former two. See KDRC, pp. 38, 248. For an overview of the late Ming examination system, see Peterson 1998, pp. 711-716.

169

Dudink 1997, pp. 153-154.

170

Ibid., pp. 161-162, 165-200; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 83.

171

KDRC, p. 582.

172

“Du xiansheng houzhuan,” pp. 223-225.

173

“Shengmeng ge ba,” pp. 463-464.

174

A. Chan 2002, p. 222.

175

Dudink 1997, pp. 162-163.

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follow the Ten Commandments. Aleni answered that the Lord of Heaven would make a fair judgment on their sincerity and put them in peaceful places.176 On June 20, 1634 and the next day, during another visit of Aleni to Haikou, Li Jiugong asked him many questions, among others on the intelligence of devils, the origin of writing characters, and the theory of creation.177 From 1635, Li Jiugong started to accumulate excerpts from the Christian works he had at hand and compiled the first parts of his Lixiu yijian, with a strong moralistic emphasis and a taste for the miraculous. To him, “Moral books enhance one’s spirit and wisdom, much like the way the rain from heaven nourishes good crops. The rain of heaven does not select a [preferable] place to moisten, and moral books do not select a [preferable] man to teach.”178 It seems that, when compared to his elder brother Li Jiubiao, Li Jiugong found a different way for the convergence of Confucianism and Christianity, namely, practical morality, by which he echoed the efforts of many other scholars to rescue the Chinese from moral decadence in the late Ming.179 A well-structured work, Lixiu yijian groups exemplar Christian stories into three categories: worshiping the Lord of Heaven, cultivating one’s self, and loving the people. Later Li added some more excerpts based on other available sources, which explains why his preface is dated 1639 but two other prefaces, both by his convert friends, are dated 1645.180 Shortly after Aleni died in 1649, Li Jiugong together with another convert, Carolus Shen (Shen Jialu 沈加琭, dates unknown), wrote some biographical accounts on their master’s life. They sent the drafts, along with notes of Aleni’s instructions they had accumulated over the years, to Li Sixuan and urged him to write a full-length biography, which was published as Xihai Ai xiansheng xinglüe 西海艾先生行略 (Biography of Master Ai from the Western Sea, ca. 1650). Li Jiugong also proofread the first volume and revised the second volume of Li Sixuan’s Xihai Ai xiansheng yulu 西海艾先生語錄 (Analects of Master Ai from the Western Sea), by and large based on the discussions recorded in Sanshan lunxue ji and Kouduo richao.181 Li Jiugong was both a faithful convert and an indefatigable compiler. Most of his works were published in the 1670s, either by him or his son Li Yifen 李奕芬 (ca. 1635–1706) after his death in 1681. They include, for example, Wenxing cuichao 文行粹抄 (Essential Notes from [Exemplar] Writings and Conducts, ca. 1680), Lisu mingbian 禮俗明辨 (Clear Discussion on Rituals and Customs, before 1681), Shensi lu 慎思錄 (Record of Meditations, ca. 1682), Wenda huichao 問答彙抄 (General Notes [in the Format] of Questions and Answers, after 1681), 176

KDRC, p. 242.

177

Ibid., pp. 362-364.

178

Lixiu yijian (WXSB), p. 434.

179

HCC 1, pp. 655-659; Zürcher 1997b, p. 603.

180

For research on the supernatural tales in this work, see Zürcher 1990, pp. 443-449.

181

A. Chan 2002, pp. 500-501. For a reprint of the text, see CCT ARSI, vol. 12, pp. 265-322.

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and Zhengli chuyi 證禮芻議 (Tentative Discussions about Rituals, ca. 1670s).182 Li’s purpose was to promote practical morality and rituals through reconciliation between Chinese and Christian customs. Since these works are more relevant to the Chinese Rites Controversy in the early Qing time, I will focus on Li’s ideas and practices inspired by Aleni, including controversial issues such as funerary and ancestral rituals.183 2.2.2. Zhang Geng in Quanzhou

Zhang Geng, who shall not be confused with two other converts with similar names, was a native of Jinjiang, a district to the south of the city Quanzhou.184 Like the Li brothers, he also came from a Confucian family. His father was an expert in the Yijing. He passed the provincial exams in 1597. Later he served at a few regional posts, first as an instructor in Zhejiang and then as a magistrate in Henan and Guangdong, till he retired to Quanzhou in 1629 at the age of sixty.185 It was in 1621 when Zhang Geng first met Aleni through introduction by Yang Tingyun in Hangzhou. He was baptized with the Christian name Madou 瑪 竇 (Matthew).186 Upon his conversion, Zhang became a very devout worshipper of the Lord of Heaven and demonstrated his great capability in spreading the Christian religion in Fujian. Especially after retirement, Zhang got actively involved in more religious activities. He served as an assistant and catechist of the Jesuit priests, built churches in Quanzhou, composed treatises on the Christian doctrine and biographical accounts on exemplary converts (e.g., his two sons Zhang Shi 張識 and Zhang Jiu 張就 [both dates unknown]), wrote prefaces and postscripts for works by the Jesuits and Chinese converts, and participated in the editorial work of numerous Christian texts, including the Kouduo richao.187 Little wonder Li Sixuan would call him “the pillar and cornerstone of the [Christian] religion.”188 Soon after Aleni started his Fujian mission, Zhang Geng presented himself as a leading supporter of the Jesuit master. In winter 1629, Aleni went to Quanzhou to baptize a Confucian student in the county school. There he met Zhang and they discussed the plan to build a church in Quanzhou. 189 According to Kouduo richao, from January 7 to July 16 in 1632, Aleni traveled to places near Quanzhou, staying at Taoyuan, Longxun 龍潯 (modern Dehua 德化), and Xianxi 182

A. Chan 2002, pp. 28-33, 56-57, 68-69.

183

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p.84-85.

184

An identification of Zhang Geng with the converts Zhang Gengyu and Mr. Zhang, as proposed by Hubert Verhaeren, has been rebutted by Adrian Dudink. See id. 1995, pp. 272-313.

185

Lin Jinshui 1994a, pp. 232, 234; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 87-89.

186

HCC 1, pp. 423-424; Fang Hao 1988, vol. 1, p. 262.

187

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 89.

188

XHAXSXL, p. 250.

189

Lin Jinshui 1994a, p. 234.

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仙溪 (modern Xianyou 仙遊). Zhang met him in Taoyuan and then, together with Yan Weisheng, accompanied him from Taoyuan to Longxun.190 As a catechist, Zhang not only encouraged a non-believer to convert, but he also answered on behalf of Aleni the question from a local literatus on the Chinese custom of concubinage. 191 Between May 28 and June 15 in 1637, in another trip to Taoyuan, Zhang engaged in conversations with Aleni on his recent works and some key concerns about the Christian religion, e.g., the rules for entering a Catholic order like the Society of Jesus.192 From 1637 to 1639, Aleni took refuge in Quanzhou due to the anti-Christian incident in Fu’an and Fuzhou. Zhang must have tried every possible way to protect his Jesuit master. The aforementioned discovery of several ancient Nestorian steles turned out to be solid evidence for him to prove the presence of Christianity in China since ancient times. There is no doubt that Zhang retained his devotion and support to the Jesuits in the 1640s. He probably died at an advanced age around 1647.193 It is interesting to note that many members of the Zhang family were converts as well. This is another example of the clan-based conversion pattern in Fujian Catholic communities. The most remarkable one was Zhang Shi (Christian name Michael), Zhang Geng’s third son, who was baptized at the age of 16. Aleni wrote a biography, prefaced by Yang Tingyun, in which he praises Zhang Shi’s talents and devotion. He attended the Holy Mass regularly, practiced selfflagellation, and wrote several tracts.194 There was a miraculous story that, before he died at an early age, he experienced an unusual vision of the Lord of Heaven, which Aleni interpreted as his coming ascension to Heaven in three years.195 The story was soon circulated among Fujian converts. After his death, a biographical account of Zhang Shi was compiled under the title Zhang Mige’er yiji 張彌格爾 遺蹟 (The Life of Michael Zhang).196 Kouduo richao records another conversation between Aleni and the converts about Zhang Jiu (Christian name Timothy), the fourth son of Zhang Geng, who also died at a young age. Aleni recalls: 190

KDRC, p. 200.

191

Ibid., pp. 202-203, 206-207.

192

Ibid., pp. 477-478, 502, 505-508.

193

Zhang’s life span is dated roughly from 1570 to 1646/1647. See HCC 1, p. 403.

194

The religious tracts written by Zhang Shi include Jingli yu 警隸語 (Admonitions to a Servant), Tianzhu hong’en xu 天主洪恩序 (The Glorious Grace of the Lord of Heaven), and Moxiang quyi 默想取益 (Benefits of Meditation). The first two texts are reprinted in CCT BnF, vol. 12, while the third one has been lost.

195

XHAXSXL, p. 250. The episode was retold in detail by Aleni when discussing with Li Jiubiao on April 22, 1630. See KDRC, pp. 43-45.

196

Dudink 1997, p. 142, fn. 48. The authorship of this biography has not been solved. For a summary of different views on the possible authors, including Aleni, Zhang Geng, Xiong Shiqi, and Yang Tingyun, see Ye Nong 2011, vol. 1, pp. 111-112.

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When he [Zhang Jiu] entered our religion he only was four years [five sui] old. In spite of his youth he was remarkably intelligent and in no way inferior to his elder brother. As regards reverence and observance there were many old and experienced [believers] who could not equal him. The [former] Metropolitan [Vice-governor] Yang Qiyuan (= Yang Tingyun) was very fond of him. One day while standing in front of the church he asked him: “Who has given life to the Lord of Heaven?” He said: “The Holy Mother.” “And who has given life to the Holy Mother?” He said: “The Lord of Heaven.” Everybody admired his sagacity. Now he may have gained the kingdom of heaven together with his elder brother. When he died His Honor [Zhang Geng] said that he had lost a son [in this world] and yet had obtained a son [in heaven].197

In his description, Aleni is very skilful to interweave his social contacts with a high official, the devotion of an exemplary convert, and Zhang Geng’s parental love into one piece. This story-telling is powerful enough to move his audience and encourage them to learn from examples like the Zhang family. In addition to the two sons, other members and relatives of the Zhang family also became converts. They included, for example, Zhang Geng’s older sister who was miraculously cured by the Holy Water from swellings, and his brotherin-law Xue Tinglian 薛廷璉 who died but came back to life before his burial and told his family about his frightening post-mortem visions.198 As a productive writer, Zhang Geng published several apologetic and liturgical texts. He wrote two commentaries for the Confucian classics Yijing and the Mengzi, titled Xiantian Yi yi 先天易義 and Yongxia jie 用夏解 respectively. In both works, he tends to reinterpret the classical Confucian thoughts in line with Christianity.199 Another work is Tianxue zhengfu 天學證符 (Proof of Congruity of the Learning from Heaven [to Confucianism], between 1628–1636). Here, Zhang Geng blends essential Confucian concepts such as filial piety, selfexamination, and Mandate of Heaven with Christian doctrines. Interestingly, when affirming the Jesuits’ equation of the Lord of Heaven (Tianzhu) with the Lord-on-High (Shangdi), he refers to Zhu Xi’s annotations to reinforce his argument.200 However, he would not talk about popular Neo-Confucian terms such as li and qi. The general theme of this work is to defend Christianity against criticisms by those who insist on the stereotyped distinction between the Chinese and barbarians. The sage kings Shun and Wen of Zhou, Zhang argues, were both barbarians if judged by the place of origin, but they became the best moral examples for all later Confucians to imitate. Since the critics cannot achieve the strict standards of the Christian faith, they slander it instead.201 197

KDRC, pp. 47-48; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 206. I have added “in this world” and “in heaven” in brackets to make the sentence easier to understand.

198

Lixiu yijian (CCT BnF ), pp. 211, 248-250. Zürcher wrongly identifies Zhang’s older sister as “sister-in-law,” and Xue Tinglian as “maternal uncle.” See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 91.

199

A. Chan 2002, pp. 33-34.

200

Tianxue zhengfu, pp. 44-45.

201

Ibid., pp. 46, 84-85.

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In yet another apologetic work Tianxue jiehuo 天學解惑 (Clarification of Confusions on the Learning from Heaven, ca. 1630s), Zhang answers a series of questions raised by the non-believers who are reluctant to accept the Christian faith. They either doubt the existence of an invisible Lord of Heaven, hold a selfrighteous view and feel no need to worship the Lord of Heaven, or would rather have their parents or children convert instead of themselves. Zhang expresses serious criticisms of their unfounded excuses, which he may have often been personally confronted with when preaching the gospels to these people.202 As a capable catechist in Quanzhou, Zhang Geng also composed a work titled Tianzhu qinli lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li 天主親立領洗告解二要規之理 (Essential Rules on Baptism and Confession as Established by the Lord of Heaven Himself, ca. 1630s), in which he explains the meanings of baptism and confession and emphasizes the necessity to follow these essential Catholic liturgies. The questions raised by the catechumens show their keen concerns within the Chinese context, such as the reason to talk about one’s shameful deeds in confession, the reason to confess to a priest instead of the Lord of Heaven, and the reason to kneel before the priest.203 In answering these questions, Zhang not only refers to the liturgical works of Aleni (e.g., Huizui yaozhi and Dizui zhenggui), but he also makes conscious efforts to transform the liturgies from a prescriptive level to a practical level for the daily Christian life of the converts. As to collaborative works, Zhang Geng composed poetic songs for Aleni’s Shengmu meigui jing shiwu duan tuxiang 聖母玫瑰經十五端圖像 (Fifteen Images of the Holy Mother’s Rosary, ca. 1637).204 He also worked together with Han Lin in writing Shengjiao xinzheng 聖教信證 (Evidence of the Sacred Teaching, 1647), in which the most prominent aspects of the Christian religion are discussed in a dialogic form.205 At the end of this book they provide short biographical accounts on the Jesuits to China. Among them, Aleni is introduced with a list of his Chinese works. The information was likely provided by Zhang Geng.206 Zhang also assisted Nicholas Trigault in translating Aesop’s Fables into Chinese, under the title Kuangyi 況義 (Allegories, 1623).207

202

Tianxue jiehuo, pp. 29-48.

203

Tianzhu qinli lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li, pp. 57-65.

204

The songs are titled Shengmu meigui shiwu tiao zhi ge 聖母玫瑰十五條之歌 (Songs for the Fifteen Mysteries of the Holy Mother’s Rosary).

205

For a detailed research on Han Lin’s life, see Huang Yi-long 2006, pp. 229-253.

206

The list, titled “Yesuhui Xilai zhuwei xiansheng xingshi” 耶 穌 會 西 來 諸 位先 生 姓 氏 (Names of Various Masters from the West in the Society of Jesus), must have been edited after the initial compilation, for the last few Jesuits died in the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the 1670s. It is interesting to note that the record says Aleni died in 1645, instead of the actual date in 1649. See WXSB, vol. 1, p. 311.

207

Trigault’s translation was first printed in 1625 in Xi’an. For studies on the introduction of Aesop’s Fables to China and its significance to the Catholic mission, see Li Sher-shiueh 2000, pp. 238-277; Cheung 2002, pp. 59-85; Uchida Keiichi 2005; and id. 2014, pp. 3-32.

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Zhang Geng was involved in the editorial work of several important Christian texts. He was the proofreader of Aleni’s Wanwu zhenyuan and Sanshan lunxue ji, Yang Tingyun’s Daiyi xupian 代疑續篇 (Subsequent Treatise to Supplant Doubts, 1635), and the corrector for the first three volumes of Kouduo richao. Moreover, Zhang helped edit Sheng Ruosefa shimo 聖若瑟法始末 (Life of Saint Josaphat, 1646) by Niccolò Longobardo (Long Huamin 龍華民, 1565–1655).208 Zhang Geng was also a prolific preface writer. He wrote prefaces to a number of works printed or reprinted in the 1640s, including Aleni’s Shengmeng ge, Wushi yan yu, Yang Qiyuan chaoxing shiji, and Xingxue cushu (1646 ed.), Yang Tingyun’s Tian–Shi mingbian (1646 ed.) and Daiyi xupian, João Monteiro’s (Meng Ruwang 孟儒望, 1602–1648) Tianxue lüe yi 天學略義 (Summary of the Learning from Heaven, ca. 1642 ), Li Jiubiao’s Kouduo richao, as well as Li Jiugong’s Lixiu yijian. These prefaces are clear proof of the collective efforts of the Jesuits and Chinese converts in Christian network building during the late Ming period. It will be difficult to include more detailed accounts on the other leading Fujian converts, such as Lin Yijun in Jin’an 晉安, Li Sixuan in Jianning, and Yan Zanhua in Zhangzhou. 209 Yet, in the exemplary cases of the Li brothers and Zhang Geng, one can already see how the Fujian mission expanded along with the collaborative efforts of the Jesuits and Chinese converts. Aleni certainly made remarkable achievements in this respect. He frequently traveled to cities and towns across the region, meeting with scholar friends and converts, discussing scientific and religious topics, founding new churches and mission centers; defending the Christian doctrines against heresies; administering Catholic liturgies, and more importantly, publishing a number of intellectual and religious works. On the other hand, led by their leaders such as Zhang Geng and Li Jiubiao, the converts in Fujian successfully built a regional network over a period of twenty years. They collaborated in printing Christian works, assisted the Jesuit masters to preach to family members, friends, and people in the neighborhood, circulated among themselves miraculous tales, visions and healings, practiced the good deeds; built churches in their neighborhoods and served as catechists in the absence of the priests, organized lay societies of devotion and charity, attended Mass according to the liturgical calendar, visited each other or kept close contacts through correspondences, and rallied defenses by all means to protect their Jesuit masters in times of crisis. Largely by means of dialogic exchanges, they acted as the mediators between the Jesuits and Chinese people in search for a universal religion. The fast-growing Chinese Christian groups became a vital component in the local socio-religious landscape of late Ming Fujian.210

208

Dudink 1997, p. 144, fn. 58; p. 146, fn. 65; A. Chan 2002, p. 113.

209

For information on Lin Yijun, see Lin Jinshui 1992, p. 57. For the activities of Yan Zanhua in Zhangzhou and Li Sixuan in Jianniang, see Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 94-101; Wu – Liu 2016.

210

Pan Feng-chuan 2002, pp. 89-94; Luo Qun 2012, 78-105; Xiao Qinghe 2009, pp. 88-122.

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2.3. Compilation of Kouduo richao The establishment and growth of the Fujian mission in the late Ming period gave rise to a favourable context for the compilation of Kouduo richao. The conversations recorded in it reflect an essentially hybrid style – analectic, chronological, and narrative – which releases the internal mechanisms of dialogue to construct a unity of diverse voices and a communication event. As a result, this work and dozens of other dialogic texts of the same period shaped a paradoxical but dynamic self–other relation. A new hybrid Christian–Confucian identity was thus formed through dialogic exchanges. If dialogue plays a key role as a literary and intercultural medium, it will be helpful to look more closely at the details of the compilation of Kouduo richao, such as its editorial principles, editions, and thematical distribution. In its physical design this work is a regular woodblock print. It shares major features with a typical printed book of Ming times, including the cover page, prefaces, statement of editorial principles, table of contents, list of authors and editors, and punctuated text. First of all, three prefaces written by Zhang Geng, Lin Yijun, and Li Jiubiao are presented. In his preface, Zhang praises Li’s disinterest in worldly concerns and says that his efforts in recording the instructions of the Jesuit masters serve to inspire lazy, oblivious, and clumsy people like him. Lin, on the other hand, makes clear the noble motive of the Jesuit masters and their erudite knowledge. According to him, false teachings, such as Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism only mislead people to neglect the serious matters of life and death, while the teachings of the Jesuit masters should be the remedy of the time and urge people to abandon worldly concerns. He also mentions that the masters’ instructions on conduct and mind offer a model for the converts to follow. In Li Jiubiao’s preface, he specifies two motives in compiling the work. The first is to overcome his dull nature by keeping notes for himself, while the second is to circulate the masters’ instructions among other converts.211 Though the three writers show different concerns, they all center on the key word duo 鐸 to connect the Jesuits’ Tianxue with Confucian traditions. After the prefaces, a statement of editorial principles ( fanli 凡例) follows which deserves attention. Here, Li Jiubiao clarifies ten specific concerns, given in translation below: This collection starts with the gengwu 庚午 year (February–May, 1630). The entries in successive years all have been provided with dates; in doing so I have presumed to follow the model of the historical chronicles (biannian jishi 編年紀事). The collection contains explanations given by the masters in response to questions, and their instructions given in various situations; they all serve to benefit our souls and to expand our learning. They are not as detailed as are books that consist of a sequence of chapters and sections, but they all are as marvelous as pieces of jade and gold. 211

KDRC, pp. 3-23.

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In some entries in the collection the subject is the Way (= religious topics); in others principles are analysed, and elsewhere the science of numbers and measures is touched upon. Since they have been noted down (in chronological order), month after month, it did not seem convenient to arrange them into different categories. In this collection [there are lacunas]: in a year not all the months are covered, nor in a month all the days, nor in a day all the hours. In general the masters extensively set forth their ideas when meeting people, but only rarely these have been recorded in full; sometimes the masters’ statements were quite clear and exhaustive, but the notes did not render their words in detail. This is due to the different degrees of intimacy [between the masters and the various recorders], and to the fact that in their way of writing some are more diligent than others. On the days when the great Rite of Worship (zhanli = Holy Mass) is celebrated, the masters always expound the Way in the church. The wonderful content [of their sermons] is very comprehensive, and difficult to note down from memory, therefore they have not all been recorded. From the xinwei 辛未 year (1631) onward, some friends have made separate records [of the masters’ words], which they have mailed to me, and I have collected them. Although I have trimmed and edited them, it should not be equal to taking others’ words as mine. Phrases that contain the most essential ideas have been marked with little circles. As regards the specific points discussed [in the entries] let everyone be guided by his own appreciation; I have not presumed to highlight these. In the collection those interlocutors who are called by their styles (zi 字) all are friends who share the Way (= fellow-Christians). I have not taken the liberty to do the same with those who have not yet embraced the Doctrine. In the Table of Contents [in general] each heading covers one topic, but it also happens that one heading covers more than one. Whenever two or more topics are covered, this has been indicated under the relevant heading, in order to facilitate careful reading.212

Among the editing principles, two are notable for their technical details. The first consists of the punctuation and highlighting of the main texts. Basically, small white dots (。), black dots (、), and big white circles (○) are used to refer to short pauses, long pauses, and periods. But they are not applied to the texts in a consistent manner. Small white dots and big white circles are used to highlight key arguments. Since similar symbols were often seen in other works of the time, Li could easily adopt them to mark the parts that he considered important. The second issue is Li’s careful treatment of the notes recorded by the other converts to avoid suspicion of plagiarism. In other words, during the compilation process revisions have been made for those parts not originally composed by Li. This is why Kouduo richao as a whole looks like the product of a single author with a relatively consistent style. These might be fairly trivial matters for a late

212

KDRC, pp. 25-27. I use Zürcher’s translation with slight changes. See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 188-189.

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Ming work, but Li’s emphasis clearly indicated his seriousness and a sense of professionalism. Li Jiubiao also explains the reason he and other converts could not make more detailed and continuous records of Master Ai’s instructions. Actually, it should have been an impossible mission for them. As the act of recording only took place after a homily or a discussion, the length of the homily or discussion, variety of the topics involved, attention and memory of the recorder, as well as his skills in making notes may likely be possible factors that could affect the overall result of the record. Another fact to keep in mind is that Li did not accompany his master all the time. He had to rely on the notes voluntarily recorded and sent to him by his confreres, who may have had different intellectual backgrounds, religious experiences, writing abilities, and attitudes in such a collaborative project. Though fragmentation was unavoidable, Li Jiubiao still made his best efforts to incorporate all types of sources into a standardized chronological record. No other late Ming Christian work could be compared to such a daily record with so rich detailed episodes on a Jesuit and his converts in both speech and action. Hence, it would be too stringent to claim that, due to visible gaps and fragments, Kouduo richao should not be taken as an exemplary record of Aleni’s mission in Fujian during the 1630s.213 After presenting the editorial principles, Li Jiubiao puts in a general time table, in which he lists the beginning and ending months, the number of days covered, and the number of entries recorded for six volumes of Kouduo richao. 214 For each of the eight volumes thereafter, he lists the headings and corresponding page numbers. Before the main texts start, there is always a list of Jesuit instructors, followed by names of convert editors and other contributors. 215 As far as the editorial aspects are concerned, including documentation, design, and indexing, we have to admit that Kouduo richao is a model compilation among late Ming Christian texts. As a matter of fact, different editions of Kouduo richao have been printed ever since the late Ming period. The complete eight-volume edition, according to Zürcher’s research, resulted from a complex four-stage compilation process: the first two volumes were compiled in 1630–1631, volumes 3 and 4 in 1632–1634, volumes 5 and 6 in 1634–1636, and the last two volumes in 1637–1640.216 The work was obviously printed in two-volume, four-volume, and six-volume editions before the final publication of the eight-volume editions, possibly in 1645–1646,

213

Zürcher 1997b, p. 598.

214

The reprinted Kouduo richao in CCT ARSI does not have a complete general table of content. Information on part of vol. 6, as well as vols. 7 and 8, is missing. See KDRC, pp. 29-30.

215

Among the 26 Chinese contributors, twelve figure in Kouduo richao, including Li Jiubiao, Zhang Geng, Yan Zanhua, Chen Kekuan, Lin Yijun, Li Jiugong, Weng Heling, Lin Yunqing, Yan Weisheng, Chen Kesheng, Chen Jingming, and Chen Jingyao. See also Appendix III. Zürcher counts 23 contributors instead of 26. See id. 2007, vol. 1, p. 15.

216

Ibid., pp. 17-18.

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because from all of these editions extant copies can be found in major archival collections.217 Before venturing into a more comprehensive exploration of varied themes in Kouduo richao in the next chapters, we may take a look at the table below to see the general distribution of those themes in all eight volumes of the work. Table: Distribution of Themes Discussed in Kouduo richao ∗ Volume Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5 Volume 6 Volume 7 Volume 8 Total * **

Religious Themes 23 31 35 26 35 47 36 31 264

Moral Themes 5 5 4 2 2 2 3 0 23

Scientific Themes 9 12 3 4 5 0 0 3 36

Others∗∗ 4 0 1 3 0 1 2 2 13

Subtotal /Total 41 48 43 35 42 50 41 36 336

The chart is based on the headings given by Li Jiubiao. If a theme is not discussed fully in a moral or scientific manner, it will be put into the category “Others.”218

We can see that religious themes are indeed the dominant category, with 264 headings taking up 78.6%, while the other categories, with only 72 headings, take up 21.4%. Though the portion of the other categories is smaller, it is not at all unimportant. On the one hand, it testifies to the diversity of Tianxue introduced by the Jesuits. On the other hand, it shows the potential capacity of dialogue as a hybrid literary genre, by incorporating various types of themes into one body. It is also worth noting that, among the three minority categories, the scientific category is not quite evenly distributed over the eight volumes: most headings (28 in total) appear in the first four volumes, from February 13, 1630 to October 16, 1633, while only a few (eight in total) are found in the next four volumes, from November 24, 1633 to July 4, 1640. Li Jiubiao alone raises sixteen science-related questions in the first four volumes and another eight in the next four volumes. The remaining twelve questions are raised by other converts or non-believers. With such a statistic comparison, we can get a proper impression of Li Jiubiao’s particular interest in the practical knowledge of the Jesuit 217

These collections include the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, Archivum Romanum Societatis Jesu, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele II in Rome, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Bibliothèque asiatique Mission Étrangères de Paris, Vakhtin in St. Petersburg, Fu Sinian Library (Academia Sinica) in Taipei, and the Zikawei Library in Shanghai. For the catalogue information, see CCT-Database.

218

In Zürcher’s calculation, the total number of scientific themes is 24. See id. 1997b, p. 606.

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masters. Of course, in the mind of Aleni, all themes would lead to the ultimate knowledge of the Lord of Heaven. They simply represented different levels in a learning process. In this respect, dialogue centering on the master–disciple (or priest–convert) relation was the preferred medium for their interpersonal and intercultural exchanges. Kouduo richao records a total of one hundred dialogists, among whom more than seventy appear to be Christian converts.219 Though those who contributed to the compilation of Kouduo richao or figured in it were mostly “obscure members of the local gentry” and “people of modest means,” they must have served as active mediators between the Jesuits, local gentry and lineages, and government authorities in the formation and expansion of Catholic communities in late Ming Fujian.220

219

My calculation is based on Li Jiubiao’s criteria: those with full names (mostly family name and courtesy name) are “friends in the same religion,” i.e., converts, while those without full names, except specified otherwise, are non-converts, normally addressed to by their titles. See “Fanli,” KDRC, pp. 26-27.

220

Zürcher 1997b, p. 597; id. 2007, vol. 1, pp. 78-79. Zürcher’s claim that in the group of converts there is “not a single jinshi” and Zhang Geng is “the only one known to have been an official” is incorrect. Several among the converts were actually low-rank officials, for example, Lin Yijun (Instructor of Fuzhou and Quanzhou), Ke Shifang 柯士芳 ( jinshi, Inspector of Henan), and Lin Eryuan 林爾元 (Magistrate of Yancheng in Henan and Dazhu in Sichuan). For more information on the other converts, see Xiao Qinghe 2009, pp. 105109.

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Practical Investigations of Heaven and Earth 3.1. Heaven: From Visible to Invisible On June 18, 1634, during a lunch gathering with a friend, Mr. Zheng in Haikou, Aleni and Li Jiubiao engaged in a conversation about the movement of stars in heaven.1 As they had done in the past, Li raised a number of questions and his Jesuit master answered accordingly: After a while, [Li] Qixiang asked: “Lately when reading the Outline of Astronomy (Tianwen lüe) I found that the firmament also has a retrograde movement, but I do not know how many degrees it amounts to in one day.” The master said: “The retrograde movement of the firmament is very slight. According to the astronomical calculations of my country it only amounts to one degree in several tens of years. It takes the firmament several myriads of years to make a full retrograde orbit. It is found that since the time of the Chinese rulers Yao and Shun till today there has only been a retrograde movement of fifteen degrees. From this you can see that the movement is very slight, and almost non-existent.” Qixiang said: “If that really is so, then the positions of the various constellations in relation to the sun must remain constant. But how to explain that when you observe the constellation Shen in the east it appears to have shifted to a higher position every evening at sunset?” The master said: “That is not due to any upward shift of the constellation Shen; it is merely due to the sun’s daily retrograde movement of one degree. Every day the sun is found to have come one degree nearer to Shen; therefore at sunset Shen standing in the east seems to have moved upward one degree. When you know this you can draw your conclusion as regards all other constellations by analogy.” [Li] Qixiang said: “In a book of my country it is said that ‘When the handle of the [Northern] Dipper points to the east it is spring in the world; when it points to the south it is summer; when it points to the west it is autumn; when it points to the north it is winter.’ Since the retrograde movement of the firmament is very slight, [the handle of the Dipper] simply must be carried along by the sphere of Prime Movement. How then can its direction change with the four seasons?” The master said: “What time are you talking about?” 1

Zheng is addressed with the title of mingjing 明經, which refers to a Classicist among the nominees who may be called upon for official appointments. See Hucker 1985, p. 333. According to Lin Jinshui, he may have been identical with Zheng Yujing 鄭玉京, who once wrote a poem in praise of Aleni, as collected in Xichao chongzhengji. See Lin Jinshui 1996, p. 188.

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He [Li Qixiang] said: “Only at sunset.” He [the master] said: “You only can understand this by observing the course of the sun. While the Northern Dipper is carried along with the sphere of Prime Movement, making one revolution per day, its handle revolves and [successively] points to the four directions. But during its course along the ecliptic the sun passes through the two equinoctial and the two solstitial points in the south and in the north. That is why at sunset the direction of the handle of the [Northern] Dipper seems to be different in accordance with the season.” [Li] Qixiang asked: “When producing the heavens why did the Creator not give [ordinary] people the capacity to fathom their working, but has chosen to hide their remarkable [principles]?” The master said: “Precisely this serves to illustrate the wonderful [method applied by] the Creator.” Qixiang asked: “How do you mean?” He said: “The Creator has produced things in such a way that in general those that are vital to man’s existence are manifest and easy to see, and that those that are not are hidden and hard to know. Just consider to what extent the science of astronomy directly concerns man’s life. Astronomical knowledge surely is a sign of erudition, but if one does not have it no harm is done. On the other hand, the highest principles of human nature and destiny that are most vital to our daily life have already been made manifest by the Creator, and he never has hidden any of these. And also, as regards material things: since the five kinds of grain serve to feed man, they grow everywhere. On the other hand, gold, jade and other rare things may be precious, but we do not need them urgently. That is why they are not produced everywhere, and, moreover, none of these openly shows its rare splendor in the world of men, for they are hidden inside mountains and stored away in rivers. That exactly shows [the Creator’s] intention.”2

The conversation reveals some remarkable features of the “scientific” side of Tianxue. First, as a real dialogue, it shows how a learned Western master and his convert disciple share concerns in astronomy and exchange different views with each other. Second, a connection between intellectual interest and religious motive is quite visible when Aleni explains the divine providence through both the obvious and the mysterious manifestations of God’s intervention in the lives of human beings. Third, in the exchange Aleni and Li do not hesitate to refer alternately to Chinese and European sources, leading to mutual reinterpretations of both side, and thus achieving a type of hybrid astronomical knowledge. 3.1.1. Astronomical Observations

The work Tianwen lüe 天問略 (Sketch of Questions on Heaven, 1615) mentioned above is an astronomical work published by Manuel Dias. Between 1614 and 1615, Valentin Carvalho (1559–1631), Provincial of Japan and China, asked Dias 2

KDRC, pp. 354-357; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 456-458.

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to visit the Jesuits’ communities at the time and teach mathematics or any other sciences to the Chinese.3 The publication of Tianwen lüe in 1615 must have resulted from Dias’ exchanges on astronomical knowledge with Chinese scholars during the inspection tour. 4 It records detailed discussions on certain common concerns of late Ming Confucians: the twelve heavens, the division of solar periods, the solar eclipse, lengths of days and nights in different places, the changing positions of the moon, the lunar eclipse, and the recent invention of the telescope in Europe. To make his points convincing, Dias draws a set of diagrams and calendrical tables and uses them in his arguments. Due to its practical use in terms of qi 器 (instrument), this book was listed as one of the major works on Western astronomy in Li Zhizao’s Tianxue chuhan 天學初函 (First Collection of the Learning from Heaven, 1626).5 While many late Ming scholars still had some doubts about Western cosmology, Li Jiubiao may have easily accepted Dias’ theory of different layers of heavens.6 Hence, when the conversation begins, Li does not question the existence of the firmament (liexiu tian 列宿天), the eighth layer in Dias’ twelve-heaven system. Instead, he asks directly about its retrograde movement. Apparently, Li’s reading of Tianwen lüe has inspired him to ponder further questions about Western astronomy. The master–disciple type of dialogue provides him a good opportunity to seek for answers from the Jesuit master, who was well trained in this field during his early studies in Europe. Aleni explains to Li that there has been a small 15 degree movement of the firmament ever since the time of the ancient rulers Yao and Shun, who are dated to 4,000 years before the late Ming. The dialogue gives a thoughtful superposition of Chinese history and Western science, with a clear intention to increase the credibility of Aleni’s theory. Ironically, there appears to be a mistake in his calculation. The movement of the firmament by a single degree normally takes about 72 years. If it is multiplied by 15 degrees as Aleni claims, the total time span will be only about 1,000 years, much shorter than what a Confucian scholar like Li would have known about Chinese history. It could be a typographical 3

Pfister 1932–1934, pp. 106-107. The content of Tianwen lüe reveals that Dias in fact blends Christian gospels into his introduction of European astronomy. In his preface, Dias points out that both types of astronomical studies – study of measurement and study of application – are rooted in morality, which in turn derives from one’s knowledge of the Lord of Heaven. He further stresses the importance of Tianxue in general, “If one devotes to this kind of learning, his study shall be practical learning, useful learning, and eternal learning; if one has nothing to do with this kind of learning, his study shall be illusory learning, useless learning, and transient learning.” See TWL, p. 2631.

4

The writing of the Tianwen lüe must have started as early as in 1614, since the anonymous questioner in the work mentions a present example of the year 1614. See TWL, p. 2648.

5

In Tianxue chuhan, Li Zhizao assigns the Jesuits’ works to two general categories, one for li (principle) and the other for qi (instrument). See TXCH, vol. 1, p. 7; vol. 3, p. 1503.

6

Ruggieri, Ricci, and Cobo have discussed the theory of ten heavens. Dias however mentions twelve heavens. He may be aware of the works of other Jesuits, as he claims that two of the twelve heavens may have been omitted because they hardly move.

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error of the imprint (the Chinese character wu 五 might have been omitted in front of shiwu 十五), or Li might have misheard the number. In any case, accuracy in calculation seems to be a secondary matter. The key lies in Aleni’s subtle treatment to bridge two traditions – “my country” (bibang 敝邦, i.e., Italy) and the “Middle Kingdom” (zhongbang 中邦, i.e., China) – in this dialogic exchange on astronomical knowledge. Li Jiubiao may be satisfied with his master’s answer, so he shifts to two other questions, one on the movement of Orion and the other on the changing directions of the Big Dipper. The second topic deserves special attention, because the Chinese record that Li refers to could be an early Daoist work titled Heguanzi 鶡冠子. It was attributed to Heguanzi, a hermit in the State of Chu during the Warring States period (403–221 B.C.E.). In his work, Heguanzi tried to develop a theory that blends several major schools of thought – Daoist cosmology, Confucian statecraft, and the Legalist principle of law and army. On the Big Dipper, he writes: There is nothing that does not begin with the vital force (qi 氣), lead to the Way (Dao 道), accord with things, correct with timing, separate from denomination, and accomplish with laws. The laws are said to be close since they are here, or they are said to be far since they are out to transform others. When they arrive up close, it is called spirit. When they get far away and return, it is called wisdom … Only the sages study the nature of the Way and follow the law of the Way. They carry out just administration though wisdom. When the handle of the Big Dipper points to the east it is spring in this world; when it points to the south it is summer; when it points to the west it is autumn; when it points to the north it is winter. The handle of the Big Dipper turns above, and things are achieved below. [At a time when] the handle points to one direction, all four directions may thus receive [respective seasons]. This is how the Way operates.7

Since ancient history, the changing directions of the Big Dipper have been considered a natural sign in correspondence with the wise rule of sage-kings in human society. In so doing, Heguanzi would propose a syncretic political theory for the kings during a chaotic time. However, the same expressions quoted by Li Jiubiao lose their original implications. He uses this reference mainly for the sake of an intellectual inquiry, which has little to do with state politics. His interest in the Big Dipper may also come from its importance to Confucian students who strove for official positions in the civil service examinations.8 On the other hand, as a Xiru 西儒 (Western

7

Huang Huaixin 2004, pp. 76-77. Translation and emphasis mine.

8

The four stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper are also called kui 魁, the fourth one having been traditionally believed as a symbol of the Daoist deity Lord Wenqu 文曲 in charge of scholarly honor and official ranking. He is often mixed with Lord Wenchang 文昌, signified by the six stars near the kui star, especially as the patron of Confucian candidates in the civil service examinations. Before the candidates took the exams, they always paid respect to Lord Wenqu or Lord Wenchang and prayed for success. Li Jiubiao was then pre-

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scholar), Aleni may not be aware that Li may have appropriated the allusion for a different purpose, so he uses his astronomical knowledge to create a new layer of interpretation – the directional changes of the Big Dipper happen all the time due to the circular movements of celestial bodies. Aleni’s answer sounds very simple if based on the astronomical knowledge he had learned in Europe, but the conversation shows creative understanding on both sides through intellectual exchange. The interlocutors investigate the topic together to seek for a common ground, where the old knowledge of the self no longer remains the same in face of a new understanding of the other. The exchanges on astronomical knowledge were continued during Aleni’s stay in Haikou. About two weeks later, on June 29, 1634, Li Jiubiao brought forth two more questions to ask his master: about the shadowy areas on the moon and the changing shapes of Venus. For the first question, he records: On the fifth, when the night was falling, the master was sitting at ease. [Li] Qixiang asked: “About the dark shadowy areas on the moon there are various theories but no certainty. According to some earlier scholars the great earth with its mountains and rivers is reflected on [the surface of] the moon; they hold that the light areas reflect water and the dark ones reflect land. I don’t know if that is true.” The master said: “If, as they say, the different dark and light areas are reflections of the great earth, then the moon must be like a mirror and the earth must be like a shape [reflected in it], don’t you think so?” He answered: “Yes.” He [the master] said: “If that were true the reflection in the mirror should shift along with the [mirrored] shape. Since the great earth with its mountains and rivers looks different in each region, the reflections on the moon should vary accordingly. How then do they explain that during the moon’s course from east to west those ‘reflections’ do not show the slightest change?” Qixiang said: “Since they are not reflections of the earth, what is the accepted theory about them?” The master said: “Those who investigate things and explore the principle [in the West] have found out that the body of the moon is not homogeneous as regards porosity and density. When a dense area is exposed to the light of the sun it is shining brightly. The other half of [the moon’s surface] shows dark shades because at those places its body is porous. When these are exposed to the light of the sun, the light is absorbed and does not cause a glare. You may compare it with a mirror [reflecting the light]: where it is smooth and shining the light will be bright, and at those places where it is worn and darkened the light will be dimmed. This can be used by way of analogy.”9

paring for provincial level exams, so it might be a reason for him to single out the Big Dipper in this case. See Min – Li 1994, pp. 315-316. 9

KDRC, pp. 377-378. Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 472-473. I have changed the translation of gewu qiongli jia 格物窮理家 from “natural scientists” to “those who investigate things and explore the Principle [in the West].”

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In Chinese astronomy, there was indeed a controversial issue regarding the dark areas on the moon. Though Li does not give the names of “earlier scholars,” he seems to refer to a popular mirror-reflection theory among the Chinese. If the moon is a “mirror” that can reflect lands and rivers on the earth, the dark areas on it must be the reflection of regions that are opaque. According to the Tang work Youyang zazu 酉陽雜俎 (Miscellaneous Accounts from [the Secret Works] at Youyang, 9th c.), the theory might have originated partially from Buddhist thought.10 During the Song dynasty, the theory seems to have been quite popular, and Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101) mentioned it once in one of his poems.11 It also attracted the attention of the leading Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi. In Zhuzi yulei, Zhu answers an inquiry on the same subject: Someone asks, “Are the dark areas on the moon [reflections of] the shadow of the earth?” Zhu says, “The theory appeared in previous generations, and it sounds reasonable in a sense. However, it is not [a matter of] the shadow of the earth, but rather the earth’s shape that blocks the sunlight. It is similar to a mirror with an object on it, which is why the light is not quite visible. When the sun sheds light on the moon, the earth is a solid thing in the middle of them. Since the light cannot pass through, there appear the dark areas on the moon.” [The person further] asks, “If the sunlight radiates to shine on the moon from four directions, why does it have to do with the earth’s blocking the light?” [Zhu] answers, “Still, there is a solid object in the middle, thus a slight blocking should appear.” Another record [of Zhu’s answer] is, “If anyone now cuts a paper figure, puts it on a mirror, brings light to shine upon it, and reflects the light on the wall, there is the [shadow of the] figure. The dark areas [on the moon] should be the same because the sunlight is blocked by the earth.”12

In this dialogue, Zhu Xi gives his own interpretation different from the popular mirror-reflection theory. The shadowy areas on the moon are not a reflection of things on the earth, but rather the result of the blocking of the earth in between the moon and the sun. Apparently, this argument derives from Zhu’s astronomical observations and critical thinking in line with “investigation of things” (gewu) and “extension of knowledge” (zhizhi 致知), though he did not further develop systematic calculation or simulation to further prove the correctness of his proposition. We may notice an implicit connection between the two dialogues above. The discussion between Zhu Xi and his disciples does not provide a final solution for this astronomical debate, so Li Jiubiao has his chance to revisit the same subject through the inquiry of his Western master. Deep in his mind there must be the intent to continue and expand previous Confucian learning. Li therefore affirms 10

Youyang zazu, p. 9.

11

Su Shi shiji 1982, vol. 7, p. 2399. The first four sentences are: 明月本自明, 無心孰為境. 挂空如水鑑, 寫此山河影.

12

See SKQS, vol. 700, p. 32. For research on the early moon-reflection theory in China, see Needham 1959, pp. 410-416.

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his self-identity as a Confucian intellectual by following Zhu Xi’s methods to investigate natural phenomena. Further, Li’s new knowledge of Western astronomy enables him to develop a different view and go beyond what the past Confucians have achieved. Such a twofold learning process could only be realized after he converts to the Christian religion and becomes the disciple of a foreign missionary who ironically would rather present himself as a Western scholar to promote Tianxue. As a result, both the self and the other change their original identities in this dialogic exchange that crosses between past and present, as well as between the Chinese and the Western worldviews. Aleni’s answer on the moon spots derives from European natural philosophy. His doubt at the mirror-reflection theory is not surprising. Plutarch (46–120) argues in his work that the shadowy parts on the moon are a mirror-reflection of earthly features, which sounds quite similar to the Chinese theory mentioned above. 13 Plutarch’s view exerted enduring influence on astronomy in medieval Europe. However, Aleni opted for a new explanation. The Western scholars who “investigate things and explore the principle” mentioned by him possibly include the well-known Spanish-Arab scholar Averroës (Ibn Rushd, 1126–1198), who made systematic commentaries on Aristotelian natural philosophy. 14 He argued that, “[T]he celestial bodies differ quantitatively in respect to rarity and density, both of which are the cause of luminosity and opacity, even though opacity exists only in the moon.”15 In other words, the dark areas are not a result of the moon’s perfect reflection of earthly features but of the variations of density of lunar materials. Where the moon is dense, sunlight cannot pass through, so it is reflected. Yet for the places where light could easily penetrate, it is absorbed due to rarified lunar materials. Before the appearance of the telescope in the 17th century, this became one of the widely accepted interpretations. The Italian poet Dante (1265– 1321) even paid special attention to this issue in his masterpieces such as Paradiso and Convivio.16 Understandably, the conversation in a Chinese context offers Aleni a chance to present this popular European theory to his Chinese disciple. Though no further argument is made, both Aleni and Li Jiubiao would be content at such an alternative view that can contribute to Confucian learning, broadly understood. It is interesting to note that the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) invented his telescope at about the same time when Aleni set out on his voyage to the China mission in 1609. Aleni might have heard of the notorious Galileo Affair (1615–1633) when in China, but it is not clear how well he knew or whether he accepted Galileo’s revolutionary telescopic observations. In Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican (1632), Galileo creates a 13

Plutarch, “On the Apparent Face in the Orb of the Moon,” http://thriceholy.net/Texts/ Moon.html (accessed August 11, 2016)

14

Lindberg 1992, pp. 218-221.

15

Hyman 1986, p. 94, fn. 76.

16

Musa 1984, pp. 20-21; Lansing 1990, p. 69.

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section for two fictitious figures – Salviati and Simplicio – to discuss issues on the moon according to the two opposing world systems. Simplicio asks Salviati whether those dark spots on the moon are seas and those bright parts are lands. Salviati’s argument rejects this stereotyped opinion by introducing Galileo’s telescopic discovery, “What is seen clearly on the moon is that the darker parts are all plains, with few rocks and hills within them, though there are some; the brighter rest is all full of rocks, mountains, and small hills of round or other shape; in particular, around the spots there are very long ranges of mountains. We can be certain that the spots are flat surface from seeing how the line separating the illuminated from the dark part makes an even cut when crossing the spots, but appears irregular and jagged when lying in the bright areas.” 17 Although Galileo was not able to give a detailed and clear-cut interpretation of what he saw, the telescopic evidence was solid enough for him to point out the errors in earlier theories: mirror-like surface, division of lands and seas, and inhabitable environment. 18 The findings urged him to re-assess the heliocentric theory of Copernicus and add new supportive arguments. The attitude of Aleni and other Jesuits in China towards Galileo’s discoveries deserves special attention, because it is related to the still debatable topic of whether they transmitted outdated European sciences. 19 As mentioned before, Dias introduced the recent inventions of the telescope in Europe, but Galileo’s new style telescope by then had not been brought to China.20 Adam Schall wrote a book titled Yuanjing shuo 遠鏡說 (On the Telescope, 1626) to introduce this scientific instrument, which appeared as a more or less a fantastic object to many Chinese. 21 In this work, he explains the practical function of the telescope to observe stars in heaven and things on earth at a distance, its optical principles and main components, and its actual use. Though Galileo’s name is not mentioned, Schall does indicate an awareness of Galilean observations on the moon: “If it [the telescope] is used to observe the Great Yin (the moon), one will see high elevated, bright parts as well as low, dark parts on it. It is comparable to the peak of a mountain, which receives sunlight first and then turns bright.”22 17

Here I use the translation of Maurice A. Finocchiaro 1997, pp. 108-109.

18

Galileo gave two principal reasons for this point. First, the lunar days and nights are much longer than the twenty-four-hour period on the earth; second, there are no rains or clouds on the moon, a place of uniform and perfect serenity. See Finocchiaro 1997, pp. 109-110.

19

Needham describes the Jesuits’ introduction of Western sciences in China as an “imperfect transmission” due to their religious commitment. For example, they adhered to the conventional geocentric worldview, thus obstructing the spread of the Copernican heliocentric doctrine in China. See Needham 1959, pp. 442-451.

20

Dias’ introduction of telescope at the end of his Tianwen lüe confirms this point. See TWL, pp. 2717-2718.

21

According to Fang Hao, Schall’s work was a translation of Girolamo Sirturi’s Telescopio (1616). See Fang Hao 1987, vol. 2, p. 709.

22

Schall, Yuanjing shuo, in Congshu jicheng chubian, vol. 1308, p. 7.

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In this introductory work, Schall shifted the scientific function of telescope to practical usage in astronomy and military topography, which might be a more urgent concern of late Ming Chinese in face of disturbances in the frontiers. His skills to use the telescope and construct mechanical instruments – sundial, celestial globe, compass, and cannon – not only won the favor of the last Ming emperor, but it also helped him survive a turbulent political transition and keep the Jesuit astronomers in imperial service under the new Manchu rulers. As a contrast, Aleni and his confreres in Fujian treated the telescope differently. They did not refer to Galileo when they showed a telescope to Chinese converts, nor did they make efforts to promote its scientific and practical value. In Kouduo richao, Li Jiubiao records two conversations in which the telescope becomes the central topic. In the first, Rudomina, called Master Lu by Li, presents a telescope to a few converts who visit the Fuzhou church. Li records: If you looked through it from one end even distant things were large, but if you looked through it from the other end even nearby things were small. When the viewing was over the master said to me: “You should use one side of the telescope to look at others and the other side to look at yourself!” I asked: “What do you mean?” He said: “When looking at others you should take the large side (i.e., to praise others); when looking at yourself you should take the small side (i.e., to humble yourself).”23

Li does not record their feelings on this occasion, but obviously in the eyes of the converts the telescope is a fantastic object rather than a scientific instrument. Interestingly, Rudomina gives a moralistic explanation of the telescope at the end. Both sides in this exchange seem to ignore its scientific and practical values. In another occasion, a similar mutual appropriation takes place again. Lin Youqi 林 有杞, a convert of Zhangzhou, visits Aleni and asks about the telescope. He is amazed at the things viewed through the telescope, but Aleni does not explain its scientific function. Instead, he gives it a moralistic and religious meaning: People in this world often see this life as imminent and the afterlife as irrelevant, but they are wrong in a similar way in which the telescope can deceive one’s eyes.24 The episodes above reveal that Aleni and Rudomina chose a selective strategy to introduce Western astronomical knowledge. What they explain to the converts has nothing to do with this scientific instrument. Even the exotic taste among the converts has to give way to moralistic and religious concerns. They turned to the established theories from Europe to answer the questions from the converts, and in this case Galileo and his new discoveries were left out of sight. It may still be possible that the telescope in Fujian could not satisfy the need of astronomical observations, or it could have been a sensitive issue to make astronomical observations in privacy.25 Their immediate jump from science to morality and religion 23

KDRC, pp. 109-110. Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 264. I have changed the translation of the last sentence to make the implicit meaning clear.

24

KDRC, pp. 272-273.

25

The second point is Zürcher’s speculation. See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 264.

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rather betrayed a plain religious intention. As will be discussed in the next section, this selectivity fits well their essential focus on the supremacy of the Lord of Heaven. While some Jesuits attempted to transmit updated European astronomy to China, others did not or would not.26 If one judges Chinese and Western astronomical traditions simply by terms such as “advanced” and “outdated,” one may likely lose sight of two important aspects: First, the Jesuits themselves lived in a transitional period when old and new theories competed with each other in Europe. Second, their diverse attitudes towards contemporary theories – Ptolemaic, Copernican, Tychonic, and Galilean – had to submit to the common missionary cause in the China mission.27 Therefore, it is less an issue of whether they have succeeded in transmitting Western sciences than an issue of how the Western concepts were transmitted in a dialogic self–other exchange. The second topic in the conversation of June 29 is about the changing phases of Venus. The full and eclipsed shapes of Venus may only be observed by using a telescope, which is stressed in Dias’ Tianwen lüe and Schall’s Yuanjing shuo. When Li raises this question, Aleni does not give a direct answer by referring to his telescope. Instead Li is asked by his master on the reasons for the moon’s phases, about which he may have gained knowledge from Aleni before. Similar to the changing positions of the moon to the sun that result in the moon’s full or eclipsed shapes, Aleni reasons, the different positions of Venus to the sun also result in its different phases.28 This analogy suggests two similar features of the moon and Venus in line with Ptolemaic cosmology: Both are circling around the earth and both reflect the sunlight. Like Aleni, many Jesuits in the late Ming supported the orthodox view of geocentricism among Christian cosmologists and astronomers in Europe. They introduced the dominant Aristotelian-Ptolemaic system to China, while at times they presented its recent modification, the Tychonic system. The AristotelianPtolemaic model puts the earth at the center of the universe, with all heavens circling around it concentrically. Beyond the earth are the celestial spheres, including the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Firmament, Constellation, Primum Mobile (zongdong tian 宗動天), and caelum empyreum (highest heaven) where God and angels dwell.29 The number of heavens seemed to vary among late Ming missionary works in Chinese. Cobo in Zhenchuan shilu 26

Fang Hao argues that some late Ming Jesuits, such as Adam Schall and Giacomo Rho, had already introduced Copernican theory and Galilean discoveries. See Fang Hao 1987, vol. 2, pp. 719-720.

27

HCC 1, pp. 716-717. For the Jesuits’ ambiguous attitudes on these theories, see Needham 1959, pp. 444-446.

28

KDRC, pp. 378-379.

29

The first seven planetary heavens or spheres were indisputable to medieval scholars, but the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic definition of the outermost heaven Primum Mobile raised trouble to the account of creation in the book of Genesis. As a result, they postulated a few additional heavens in the place of Primum Mobile: the Firmament, the stellar heaven (constellation), the crystalline heaven, and the empyreum. See Lindberg 1992, p. 250.

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draws a diagram of the Ptolemaic model. Except the Firmament, all the other ten heavens are clearly marked.30 When Ricci printed a refined version of his world map in 1602, he reduced the number of heavens from eleven to nine, without the Firmament and the caelum empyreum. 31 However, in a similar illustration in Ricci’s Qiankun ti yi 乾坤體義 (On the Structure of Heaven and Earth, ca. 1608), the two heavens left out in the 1602 world map reappear.32 It seems more interesting that in his Tianwen lüe Dias discusses twelve heavens – Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Constellation, the East–West precession of equinoxes, the South-North precession of equinoxes, Primum Mobile, and Paradise. 33 In order to avoid possible confusions among those who have seen Ricci’s world map, Dias states that the twelve-heaven structure is a refined version of the former nine-heaven structure. In this sense, no matter how different the representations could be, they do not conflict with each other and they may still be said to be the same work of the Lord of Heaven, the creator of all nine, eleven, or twelve heavens. Therefore, while different Jesuits presented somewhat different cosmic structures, the underlying religious truth remained the same. Aleni in Kouduo richao adopts Ricci’s structure of nine heavens, not Cobo’s ten heavens or Dias’ twelve heavens.34 He has no doubt about the dominant geocentric view, but his attitude towards the recent Tychonic cosmic model seems to be ambiguous. When he discusses the asteroid of Venus circling around the sun, he may intend to say that Venus also circles about the sun, a mark of the Tychonic model.35 This model is still geocentric in essence, because its original creator Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) insisted that the earth was fixed at the center of the universe. The moon and the sun circle around the earth, the other five planets circle around the sun. When Schall encountered the same issue on the changing phases of Venus, he did not hesitate to resort to the Tychonic model. In the diagram, Venus is shown circling around the sun, which in turn circles around the earth.36 Schall also compares it to the changing phases of the moon, but unlike Aleni he stresses the use of the telescope to observe the changing phases of Ve30

Zhenchuan shilu, p. 31c.

31

Ricci, Jiuchongtian tu 九重天圖, from an online version of Kunyu wanguo quantu 坤輿萬國 全圖 (Complete Map of Ten Thousand Countries of the World; see “Internet Sources”). The names of the nine heavens are copied from Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu, which Ricci was involved in its later revision. See TZSL, pp. 27-28. Ricci in his Tianzhu shiyi also mentions the nine heavens in a diagram explaining categories of things in the world. See TCSI, pp. 192-193.

32

The illustration is titled qiankun ti tu 乾坤體圖. See Qiankun tiyi, p. 760.

33

TWL, p. 2638. Another version of this illustration can be found in SKQS, vol. 787, p. 854.

34

KDRC, p. 272. Aleni also mentions nine heavens in his Wanwu zhenyuan 萬物真詮. However, in his preface to Wanguo quantu 萬國全圖 (1620), Aleni mentions about twelve heavens instead of nine heavens. For an online version of the map, see “Internet Sources.”

35

See KDRC, p. 379. In modern astronomy, it has been proved to be a false theory that there is any satellite or asteroid orbiting Venus.

36

Yuanjing shuo, p. 8.

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nus. Due to Schall’s influence in the late Ming court, the Tychonic model was adopted by Chinese scholars for calendrical reform. The interactive exchange between Aleni and Li Jiubiao on astronomy gets to a point where Li has to admit the limitation of his knowledge. After a discussion on how the moon completes a full cycle with unequal lengths in a month, Li remarks, “After having heard all this I was perplexed and confused. I thought: ‘How inexhaustible is the way of learning! Does this not show that we never must be satisfied with the one [little bit] we understand?’”37 Such a feeling must have been deeply rooted in Li’s mind in the course of his close interactions with the Western master. In a self–other relation between Chinese and non-Chinese, he notices the limitations of the self when engaging in a dialogic process of learning from the culturally and religiously different other. 3.1.2. The Calendar Puzzle

In Kouduo richao, discussions of astronomy between the Jesuit masters and the converts often touch on the calendrical issue, an important part of late Ming Chinese intellectual and political life. Ideologically, to establish a standardized calendar signified the emperor’s proper response to the Tianming 天命 (Mandate of Heaven). Practically, a reliable calendar was also of great value for the daily life of the Chinese people.38 When the Jesuits arrived in China, the Chinese had encountered increasing difficulties to continue the two existent calendar systems – Datong 大統 and Huihui 回回 – first established during the Yuan dynasty.39 This particular situation not only added another thematic category for the Jesuits in their exchange with Confucian scholars, but it also gave them an opportunity to show astronomical expertise upon the urgent call for a calendar reform in the Ming court. This reform (1629–1634) during Emperor Chongzhen’s reign was to introduce the Western calendar to correct errors in the Datong and Huihui calendars. Errors in calculation had accumulated to such extent that the emperor could not tolerate them anymore. In a 1629 edict, he warned that, “The calculation of solar eclipse hours by the Directorate of Astronomy mismatch [real hours] both before and after. This type of mistake even happens in important affairs! Tell the staff in the Bureau that they are forgiven for this time, but they must calculate carefully in the future. If they make any mistake again, I will order severe punishments without mercy.”40 The astronomers at the imperial court felt a great dilemma. If they continued to use the old systems, it would be impossible to avoid further mistakes. If they stopped using the old systems, however, no one could solve the problems, not to mention the making of a new calendar. To overcome the dilemma, some open-minded officials, especially Xu Guangqi, who then served at the 37

KDRC, p. 146; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 302.

38

Jiang Wenhan 1987, pp. 92-94; Cheung 2002, pp. 4-8.

39

Needham 1959, pp. 48-53.

40

Wang Zhongmin 1963, vol. 2, p. 319.

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Bureau of Rites, turned to the Western calendar introduced by the Jesuit scientists. They suggested that the old calendars be revised and experts in this field, both Chinese and non-Chinese, be called upon to carry out the project.41 Given this context, it is not surprising that Li Jiubiao would ask Aleni a particular question on the advantages of the Western calendar. The conversation is dated May 6, 1631. Li records: Towards the wu hour (11 A.M. – 1 P.M.) I was waiting upon Master Ai. We were looking through a book on calendrical calculations. I said: “In my country the calendar is regulated as follows: four seasons [of three times thirty days each] constitute a year, and the days that are not fully covered by that calculation are accumulated so as to form an intercalary month. Now I have heard that in the Great West they have a perpetual calendar that for a myriad years remains unchanged, without inserting any intercalary months. May I hear [more] about that theory?” The master said: “There are two kinds of calendar. One is computed according to the movement of the sun, and one is computed according to the phases of the moon. The solar calendar has as its standard the sun’s path along the zodiac, as it moves around heaven in one year, from the winter solstice till next year’s winter solstice. The lunar calendar has as its standard the period from new moon to new moon (= the synodic month). Although it also has twelve months, due to the difference in duration [in comparison with the solar months] the lunar year lasts eleven days less than the time it takes the sun to go all around heaven. It therefore is necessary to accumulate those remaining deficiencies and [to fill the gap by] inserting an intercalary month. As a result, the Chinese calendar has to be changed every year, which makes laborious calculations unavoidable. In the Great West the calendar is computed according to the movement of the sun. The duration of the sun’s path along the zodiac remains constant year after year, without any deviation; hence the 365 days which it takes the sun to go around heaven constitute one year. However, the complete course of the sun around heaven actually lasts 365 1/4 days. Since that quarter of a day amounts to approximately three [double] hours, we insert one intercalary day every fourth year. As a rule there is an intercalary day in the years marked with the cyclical signs shen, zi and chen; in the other years there is none. That is why we have a fixed calendar that does not have to be changed for a myriad years.”42

When comparing Chinese and Western calendars, Aleni keenly contrasts the accuracy and convenience of these two different systems. In so doing, he distinguishes his arguments from those in early Chinese records. As a matter of fact, back to the Song Neo-Confucians, Zhu Xi and his disciples had already noticed that there were 365 solar days and 354 lunar days in a year. But according to li (principle), 360 days had to be considered the constant number of a year. Zhu Xi thus used such terms as Surplus Vital Force (qiying 氣盈) and Inadequate Lunar 41

Wang Zhongmin 1963, vol. 2, pp. 324-328, 343-346, 361-363, 424-428.

42

KDRC, pp. 104-106; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 257-258.

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Cycle (shuoxu 朔虛) to explain the necessity of five extra solar days and five deficient lunar days, which naturally gave birth to intercalary months and years.43 The Song Neo-Confucians started with an empirical investigation, but they ended with a metaphysical conclusion underpinned by the universal li and yinyang balance. Aleni does not openly criticize this metaphysical conclusion, as the Western calendar he promotes is embedded with religious undertones as well. However, he argues that to change the number of days in each year is a disadvantage of the lunar calendar, and people can hardly avoid any mistake when using intercalary months and years. If we take a closer look at Aleni’s discussion on the Western calendar, we will notice that he also takes a selective approach similar to the way he introduces the telescope in the previous case. The Western calendar he refers to must be the Julian calendar enforced since 46 B.C.E. by Julius Caesar (100–44 B.C.E.). It includes 365 days in a year and sets one intercalary year of 366 days for every fourth year. However, Aleni does not mention the recent Gregorian Reform in 1582 at all. Pope Gregory XIII (1502–1585) made a decree in 1582 that ten days be omitted due to an error on the length of a solar year when using the Julian calendar.44 He decided to endorse the model of Christopher Clavius (1537–1612), the Jesuit scientist who was also the teacher of Ricci, for calendar reform and adopted a new way to calculate the intercalary years – any year divisible by 4 shall be an intercalary year unless it can be divided by 100 (years divided by 400 count as intercalary years, though).45 These changes were made in order to maintain the authority of the Catholic Church in calculating the dates for Easter and all other movable feasts. It is unlikely that Aleni did not know about this major reform. His claim of the Western calendar being “a fixed calendar that does not need to be changed in ten thousand years” therefore sounded exaggerative if not wrong. This deliberate omission served the Jesuits’ consistent claim of the superiority of the Western calendar. To them, every defect in the Chinese calendar offered a strategic entry point for promoting European astronomy, which would eventually serve to further Christian belief in China. Since the discussion on the Western calendar in Kouduo richao took place at a time when the calendrical reform was well on its way, Aleni and Li Jiubiao may have heard of the collaborative efforts made by the Jesuits and Chinese scholars 43

Wang Yunwu 1968, pp. 6-7.

44

The Julian calendar had 365.25 days, but Renaissance astronomers proposed two “real” lengths of a solar year: 365.2422 days (mean tropical year) and 365.2424 days (vernal equinox year). Therefore, the difference from the Julian calendar will be either 11.23 minutes in the former or 10.94 minutes in the latter. When it accumulates, the calendar will be at odds with the equinoxes and solstices by one day after about 131 years. See Peter Meyer, “The Julian and Gregorian Calendars,” http://www.hermetic.ch/cal_stud/cal_art. html (accessed 17 March 2016).

45

See Inter Gravissimas, issued on February 24, 1581/2. The online English version of the text is at http://www.bluewaterarts.com/calendar/NewInterGravissimas.htm (accessed March 8, 2018).

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in the Ming court. In response to repeated petitions from the Bureau of Rites, Emperor Chongzhen finally issued an edict to revise the old calendars. Xu Guangqi was assigned to be the head of the new calendar office to supervise the whole process. Li Zhizao was also involved in the early stage of the reform as a colleague of Xu and as translator of a few Western calendrical works. 46 They collaborated with a few Jesuit scientists, including Johann Terrentius Schreck (Deng Yuhan 鄧玉涵, 1576–1630), Giacomo Rho, and Adam Schall, in making advanced instruments for astronomical observations. In addition to accumulating data, they also translated Western astronomical works to secure correct calculation and prediction, especially on the lunar and solar eclipses. As a result, Xu and his team from 1629 to 1634 completed a series of works under the title Chongzhen lishu 崇禎曆書 (Calendar Compendium of [Emperor] Chongzhen’s Reign). 47 Though debates on the new calendar continued and the compendium was not printed until the beginning years of the Qing dynasty, this calendar reform must have been widely known by the Jesuits in China. Xu’s promotion of the Western calendar not only echoed the Jesuits’ missionary strategy, it also represented the view of some open-minded Confucian scholars. During the reform, Xu submitted a series of memorials to Emperor Chongzhen and repeatedly emphasized the ideal he firmly believed in, that is, to synthesize Chinese and Western calendars into one. In other words, Xu had no intention to totally abandon the previous Chinese calendars when advocating the new Western calendar. As he explicitly says in one of his memorials: The second point is to use the Western calendar. Emperor Hongwu 洪武 (Zhu Yuanzhang 朱元璋, 1328–1398) once adopted a Huihui calendar and called it a work of ancient sages. He ordered literati Wu Bozong 吳伯宗 (1334–1384) and others to translate it with Mashayihei 馬沙亦黑 (Muhammad Shaikh). The calendar has been handed down till the present day and it is still being used, but unfortunately there are more and more errors due to its outdated method. During the Wanli period (1573–1619), Matteo Ricci and his fellows, who were remote subjects and astronomers from the West, were well versed in astronomical studies. Around 1612 they were recommended by the Bureau of Rites. His fellows Niccolò Longobardo and Johann Schreck currently stay in an officially granted church. We must obtain their books and methods before we can correct the errors and supplement the imperfect and missing parts. Their skills are refined and their expertise has been accumulated for a long time. If the Western calendar and the old Datong calendar can be syncretized into one, we will get twice the benefits with half the effort.48

46

Fang Hao 1966, pp. 175-192.

47

Fang Hao 1987, pp. 694-710; HCC 1, p. 714; Needham 1959, p. 447.

48

Xu Guangqi, “Tiaoyi lifa xiuzheng suicha shu” 條議曆法修正歲差疏 (Memorial on a List of Proposals to Correct the Precessions in Calendar Making), in: Wang Zhongmin 1963, vol. 2, p. 335.

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Xu quotes the precedent of the first Ming emperor’s adoption of the Muslim calendar to support his claim of adopting the Western calendar, both systems being of a non-Chinese origin. His suggestion of utilizing Western calendrical knowledge to serve Chinese needs aims at a fusion of two different astronomical traditions. As a matter of fact, this syncretic attitude was supported by many other late Ming scholars, such as Wang Xichan 王錫闡 (1628–1682) and Xue Fengzuo 薛鳳祚 (1600–1680). 49 Under such favorable circumstances, it is not surprising that Li Jiubiao would express his interest in the Western calendar, while at the same time he shows no intention to abandon the Chinese calendar. This synthetic view, though coming from the periphery of a southern province, corresponds to that of Xu Guangqi at the Ming imperial court. In other words, Li does not need to abandon traditional knowledge when accepting some elements from the other’s knowledge. There is an interesting parallel in this to Aleni’s selective introduction of the Julian calendar to the Chinese other in the same dialogic exchange. However, not all late Ming scholars would adopt the same syncretic attitude as Xu and Li. Suspicions and negative comments from conservative scholars were as strong as those of supporters. For example, a rather obscure scholar named Wei Wenkui 魏文魁 published two books in 1631 and later submitted memorials to the emperor attacking the new Western calendar. Xu Guangqi and Adam Schall had to defend their claims and engage in a series of competitions in calendrical observations. The debates not only delayed the publication of those calendar books, but they also paved the way for the more widely known early Qing Calendar Case (1664–1665), in which Adam Schall and Ferdinand Verbiest (Nan Huairen 南懷仁, 1623–1688) were involved in a series of contests with some hostile Chinese officials and scholars on whether to maintain the traditional Chinese calendar or to adopt the Western calendar.50 3.1.3. From Heaven to the Lord of Heaven

In Kouduo richao, astronomical topics discussed between the Jesuit masters and convert disciples center on an unchangeable Creator, the Lord of Heaven. The intertwining of intellectual and religious elements is visible in several aspects, of which Aleni would remind the converts from time to time. First, the Lord of Heaven exists in reality and He dwells in the highest place above all nine, eleven, or twelve heavens. Second, the Lord of Heaven is omnipotent and has the ultimate authority in supervising all creatures in the natural world and in the human world. Third, among a variety of types of Western learning, the study on the Lord of Heaven (i.e., theology) is more profound than other studies such as logic, physics, metaphysics, mathematics, and ethics. In one way or another, Aleni’s 49

Wang Xichan’s Xiao’an xinfa 曉庵新法 (1640) and Xue Fengzuo’s Tianxue huitong 天學 會通 (1650) have been discussed as examples for the conciliation of Chinese and Western astronomy. See Needham 1959, pp. 454-455.

50

Fang Hao 1987, pp. 710-715; HCC 1, pp. 513-515.

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instructions reflect a Christian origin, especially from the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), one of the most important medieval theologians who integrated Aristotelian philosophy into Catholic theology.51 As mentioned before, when Lin Youqi wants to have a look at the telescope out of curiosity, Aleni shifts his attention to a religious dimension. He replies: Which telescope do you like to see? Through one you only can look up to the ninth celestial sphere. Through the other one your vision penetrates beyond the ninth sphere, and you will see the unlimited marvellous principles of the Lord of Heaven. Of these two, which one do you choose: the long-sighted or the near-sighted one?52

Though Aleni does not give any further description, he asserts that the Lord of Heaven inhabits the highest place above all heavens. His residence is too high to be seen, even with the aid of a telescope. Further, he explains that the Lord is omnipresent but invisible, so humans could only recognize the principles that He has established rather than see the Lord Himself. The arguments of Aleni contributed to the Jesuits’ collective effort in demonstrating God’s existence based on established medieval cosmology. Ruggieri once discussed the nine heavens created by God on the Second Day.53 Ricci and da Rocha, when explaining Christian concepts of heaven and hell, described a hierarchical universe, with God, angels, and the elected above and the devils and the damned below.54 Dias utilized his expertise to promote the Twelve Heaven Theory. He writes, “The highest heaven is the twelfth heaven, where the Lord of Heaven or the Lord-on-High, various angels, and the saints reside. It is forever serene and motionless. Its vastness is incomparable. It is Paradise.” 55 Adam Schall in his Zhuzhi qunzheng 主制群徵 (Evidence of God’s Creation, 1636) also focuses on the movements of different heavens and new telescopic discoveries – lunar spots, solar eclipses, four asteroids of Jupiter, the Galaxy – as the evidence of God’s creation and omnipotent power.56 Whether they adopted the PtolemaicAristotelian model with solid concentric crystal-like spheres or the revised geocentric model of Tycho Brahe, the Jesuits tended to describe an unchanging and perfect cosmological structure in which all heavens were created and operated according to God’s will. The supreme role of God is not only explained in terms of the location that He dwells in, but it is also given a metaphorical implication. Aleni in Kouduo richao often stresses that God is the supreme authority of all creatures between heaven and earth. In one conversation, a convert Yu Dumou 俞都謀 says that the earth cannot be what it is without heaven, since the agricultural products on earth must 51

Lindberg 1992, pp. 219-221.

52

KDRC, p. 272. Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 396.

53

TZSL, pp. 27-28

54

TZSJQM, pp. 433-436.

55

TWL, p. 2633.

56

Zhuzhi qunzheng, pp. 534-538.

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rely on the nourishment of rain and dew which come from heaven. Aleni quickly responds that heaven cannot be what it is without the Lord of Heaven. Yu challenges this by asking how there can still be inclement weather for the five grains under the control of the Lord of Heaven. Aleni replies, “Since the Lord of Heaven loves mankind, he actually wants to let rain and sunshine come at the right times, so that the five grains grow in abundance. But nowadays people often violate the Lord of Heaven’s commandments. How then can you expect all things to happen in compliance with their wishes?”57 The dialogue should have been a discussion on astronomical phenomena, but Aleni rather turns it towards a hierarchical universe in which the Lord of Heaven dictates fortunes and mishaps based on human attitudes to His authority. Accordingly, the human world also has its hierarchy in which the agents of God – popes, emperors, and kings – serve as authorities over all other subjects. Furthermore, there is also a nine-rank hierarchy of tianshen 天神 (angels) between the Lord of Heaven above and human beings below. Aleni’s words reinforce the arguments found in other late Ming Christian dialogues. As discussed in the previous chapter, Ruggieri and Ricci propagated the universal hierarchy underpinned by the Catholic cosmological world order in their works. They superposed a hierarchical Christian universe onto the established hierarchical imperial order in China. Such a superposition of two worldviews, however, implied that the Chinese heaven (Tian) is subject to the authority of the Christian God. It is for this reason that Aleni corrects Yu’s understanding on the role of heaven. Two aspects of the Lord of Heaven are emphasized in this hierarchical system – He is the Creator of an infinite universe and the final authority of all spiritual and sentient beings. In this dialogic exchange, Aleni subtly changes the stereotyped Chinese imperial mindset to fulfill a missionary cause. As we will see in the next chapter, his claim of the Lord’s supremacy in a universal hierarchy has to face challenges from many native deities such as Da fantian Wang 大 梵 天 王 (Mahābrahmā) in Buddhism and Yuhuang Dadi 玉皇大帝 (Jade Emperor) in Daoism.58 Since Aleni was one of the earliest Jesuits in China to introduce the disciplinary divisions in Western learning (or more specifically, in Jesuit education), his discussions with Li Jiubiao and other converts on astronomy may also be studied from this angle. In Xixue fan, astronomy falls into the fields of mademadijia 馬德 馬第加 (mathematica), which in turn is one of the sub-categories in feilusuofeiya 斐錄所費亞 (philosophia).59 After achieving systematic learning in all six disciplines, one could finally proceed to daoke 道科 or douluriya 陡祿日亞 (Studies on the Way, i.e., theologia), the most comprehensive and profound level in Western learning. Aleni’s arrangement of the six disciplines from lower to higher 57

KDRC, p. 119. Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 275.

58

For more discussion of these native Chinese deities, see Chapter 4.5.2.

59

XXF, pp. 21-59. For studies on Western learning in Xixue fan, see Xu Guangtai 2003, pp. 165-212; Luk 1997, pp. 479-518.

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levels highlights the prestigious position of theology over other types of knowledge. As he explains at the end of Xixue fan, “Without renxue (humanist learning), one will not get an entry to Tianxue 天學 (here in the meaning of theological learning). If one benefits from renxue but does not proceed to Tianxue, one will have nothing to rely on as final destiny.”60 By means of learned conversations with his convert disciples in Fujian, he reaffirms the Jesuits’ treatment of astronomical studies. This type of practical learning only plays a subordinate and supplementary role in Western learning, or as a first step towards obtaining a thorough and true knowledge of the Lord of Heaven.61

3.2. Earth: “Science” vs. “Superstition” Besides astronomy, Kouduo richao also records some discussions between Aleni and the converts on practical learning about the earth, i.e., geography and cartography. Their close connections with astronomy are obvious, since the earth is supposed to stay at the center of the heavens. Many topics, including the earth’s shape, the Four Elements, time differences, causes of wind, storms, and earthquakes, are in one way or another related to the astronomical phenomena discussed above. They become the focus of various cultural interests and traditions, and they interweave to form a network in which Aleni and his converts can reach a compatible, though not identical, understanding through dynamic dialogic exchanges. 3.2.1. The Shape of the Earth

In February 1630, Li Jiubiao visited the Fuzhou church and engaged in discussions with Aleni and Rudomina on some geographical issues. This exchange should be considered within the context of the introduction of Western geography and cartography by the first Jesuits. In the 1620s, Ricci’s European-style world map, which carried features such as the earth’s spherical shape, continents and seas, and other advanced civilizations beyond China, had aroused the interests of some late Ming Confucian scholars. The impact was evident in many reprints and reproductions of his map within a short period.62 In 1620, Aleni also created the world map Wanguo quantu 萬國全圖. Later, he published two more works – Zhifang waiji and Xifang dawen – to introduce countries and cultures beyond China. 63 These works testify to the Jesuits’ collective efforts to use European geography and cartography to garner interests and respects from Confucian scholars. The strategy was successful in Ricci’s case, as we can see in the active involvement of elite converts such as Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao. On a regional 60

XXF, p. 56.

61

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 169-170.

62

HCC 1, pp. 754-755; Smith 1996, pp. 42-49; Foss 1988, p. 211.

63

Xie Fang 1996, pp. 3-4; Walravens 1991, pp. 31-33; Fang Hao 1987, vol. 2, pp. 837-840. For a detailed analysis on Zhifang waiji, see Zou Zhenhuan 2011, pp. 255-288.

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level, Aleni’s works might have attracted attention among local scholars in Fujian as well. Li Jiubiao, for example, was not only keen on astronomical topics but also showed great interest in geographical knowledge. His dialogic exchanges with the Jesuit masters suggest the same purpose of obtaining broad learning in line with the Confucian tradition. In Kouduo richao, the first discussion on geography starts with a map of Rome, by which Aleni explains the earth’s shape and the time differences between Rome and China to Li Jiubiao. In fact, the Jesuits’ claim of the earth’s spherical shape had been a controversial issue since Ricci presented his European-style world map. No wonder Li would record such a novel learning experience from the Jesuit masters in detail. He writes: On the eighteenth towards noon the two masters were strolling in the courtyard. While they were looking at a map of Rome that was painted on a wall, Master Ai told me: “At this moment in Rome they have not yet celebrated Misa.” I was astonished and asked: “So time is not the same everywhere?” The master said: “No!” I asked why, and he said: “It simply is because [places on earth] are illuminated by the sun at different times, some earlier and some later. The earth is like a globe, and it is inhabited on all sides. As the sun shines upon it while it is moving from east to west, each stretch of thirty degrees corresponds to a [time] difference of one hour. Now for all people wherever they are the wu hour (11 A.M. – 1 P.M.) corresponds to the meridian where they are located. It follows that at a distance of thirty degrees to the east of that place it is already wei (1–3 P.M.), whereas at the same distance to the west of that place it still is si (9–11 A.M.). Rome lies at a distance of more than a hundred degrees from China, and according to my calculation at this moment it still is yin (3–5 A.M.) there. That is why I know that they have not yet celebrated Misa.” I said: “If it is as you say, and if I apply it by inference to the various provinces of my own country, I consider that Burma lies at a distance of only twenty degrees [to the west of] our Min (= Fujian). Now here the wu hour has not yet begun – is it true that in Burma it is not yet si?” The master said: “That is right!” I said: “When astrologers [cast horoscopes] selecting [lucky and unlucky] days to determine one’s fate, they assume that in the whole world it is as late as it is here. But if even within the sphere of China and its vassal states [like Burma] there already are such differences, on what can astrologers rely to define good luck and misfortune?” The master said: “I certainly regard them as untrustworthy. But why is the world still [willing to] be fooled by them?”64

Here Li seems to have some doubts about the earth’s spherical shape. However, the early Jesuits went to great lengths to convince Chinese scholars that their stereotyped concept of “round heaven, square earth” was wrong. Ruggieri in Tianzhu shilu lists the earth as the first among the four things created by God on the first day of creation. He describes the earth in relation to the waters with a 64

KDRC, pp. 42-43; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 199.

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metaphor, “The waters surround the earth like egg white, while the earth stays inside the waters like the yolk.”65 In this statement, Ruggieri clearly points out the earth’s spherical shape before he moves to an introduction of the Ptolemaic system of nine heavens. Following Ruggieri, Ricci also paid much attention to this subject. When talking with Chinese officials and literati in Nanchang, he noticed that the latter held a “strange” concept that the earth had a flat and square shape.66 The idea derived from the so-called gaitian 蓋天 (canopy heaven) theory, one of the major cosmological theories since the Han time. 67 Interestingly, when Ricci promoted the European model to challenge the Chinese concept of a “square earth,” he brought forth a new interpretation of the latter. In the preface to his well-known world map, Ricci argues, “The lands and seas naturally have round shapes and merge to form a globe, which suspends at the center of the celestial globe. It is truly like a yolk in the midst of egg white. Those who claim that the earth is square actually refer to its fixed, unmovable nature, but not its shape.”68 In fact, arguments on the egg–earth metaphor and the earth’s unmovable nature can be found in some early Chinese texts. 69 Hence, when presenting his “novel” claim Ricci consciously borrows from Chinese cosmology to make sense of European geography: The Chinese egg–earth metaphor may be linked with the Ptolemaic concentric model, while the idea of an unmovable earth is a match of the Aristotelian theory of the earth being fixed at the center of the universe. Ricci’s fusion of a Chinese and a non-Chinese concept leads to a twofold result. On the one hand, this claim was novel enough to arouse the interest of the Chinese. On the other hand, it was not so strange that it would cause much suspicion and rejection. Ricci is careful in treating this key concept in his scientific and the religious works on Tianxue. As we can see in the works of later Jesuits, e.g., Sabbatino de Ursis (Xiong Sanba 熊三拔, 1575–1620) in Biaodu shuo 表度 說 (On the Gnomon, 1615), Francisco Furtado in Huanyou quan 寰有詮 (Explanation of the Universe, 1628), Adam Schall in Zhuzhi qunzheng (1629), Alfonso Vagnone in Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (Studies on Phenomena in the Sublunar Region, 1633), and Ferdinand Verbiest in Budeyi bian 不得已辨 (Refutation of I Cannot Do Otherwise, 1669) and Kunyu tushuo 坤輿圖說 (Illustrated Explana-

65

TZSL, p. 26.

66

See Ricci’s letter to Girolamo Costa, 28 October 1595, in: Luo Yu 1986, vol. 1, p. 188.

67

For a study on the three theories of gaitian, huntian 渾天, and xuanye 宣夜, see Needham 1959, pp. 210-224.

68

See Ricci’s preface to Kunyu wanguo quantu (Internet Sources). Ricci was not the first one who challenged the “square earth” concept. Before him, Juan Cobo had already made an illustration to compare a square earth and a round earth in order to show that the first concept is erroneous. See Zhenchuan shilu, p. 31g.

69

Needham 1959, pp. 216-219; Zhu Pingyi 1998, pp. 598-601.

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tion of the Entire World, 1674), they have made continual efforts to introduce and defend the concept of the spherical earth.70 Aleni would certainly echo his fellows in introducing such a crucial Western concept. In his preface to Wanguo quantu, he explains, “The Creator [God] created twelve heavens. The Four Elements – fire, air, water, and earth – surround one another in order. The earth remains at the center of heavens. It has a round shape, but its nature is square. It never ever moves.”71 This gives a perfect summary of the Ptolemaic concentric model. However, in his discussion with Li Jiubiao, Aleni obviously is not satisfied with talking about this subject on a theoretical level. He uses a concrete example – the time difference between Rome and Fuzhou – to explain the earth’s sphericity. Moreover, Aleni’s words on Mass also add a religious undertone to his impromptu instruction. Li is at first surprised at the way his master starts the conversation, but after the latter’s explanation he understands the meaning and further applies the same method to examine the time difference between Burma and China. In this dialogic exchange, we can see how the knowledge of the other may be understood and digested by the self. Aleni’s reference to Rome could be interpreted as a strategic device to deliver an implicit non-centralist undertone. First, the city is the political and cultural center of Aleni’s home country, Yidaliya 意大里亞 (Italia). In his Zhifang waiji, Aleni describes a series of wonderful locations in Rome, such as the Frascati garden, Saint Peter Cathedral, Seven Hill, and aqueducts.72 Of course, Rome is seen as the religious center of Christendom. As a Catholic believer, Aleni naturally tends to give a religious preference in his geographical description. The consciousness of his own identity may have been more intense when meeting with late Ming scholars with a Sinocentric mind. Hence, he would take any opportunity to promote the European civilization as a counterpart of the Middle Kingdom. In Aleni’s descriptions the orthodox Christian belief, benevolent governments, peaceful and honest people, simple judicial process, high-level education, as well as social welfare feature predominantly. The purpose for this idealized image of Europe is to neutralize the Sinocentric myth long held by Chinese scholars and officials.73 The world under the Lord of Heaven, Aleni suggests, is not Chinacentered, because physically every point can be a center on the spherical earth. There are multiple political, cultural or religious centers in the world, of which China was only one. Understandably, Li Jiubiao’s positive response does not mean general acceptance among the late Ming Confucians. Many of them were suspicious at the Jesuits’ claim of Europe being another center of the world. For example, Zhang Huang 章潢 (1527–1628), a leading scholar known for his expertise in Yijing, met Ricci in person and showed an interest in Ricci’s representation of the spher70

Zhu Pingyi 1998, pp. 602-628.

71

See “Wanguo quantu xiaoyin” (Internet Sources).

72

Xie Fang 1996, pp. 84-85.

73

Chen Mingsun 1994, pp. 129-131.

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ical earth. In his Tushu bian 圖書編 (Compilation of Illustrations and Writings, 1613), Zhang reproduces an early version of Ricci’s world map.74 However, he still doubts Ricci’s novel claim and says, “The [idea of a] spherical heaven and earth contradicts ancient [Chinese] records. Since my own feet have not touched [the foreign countries], it is better for me not to be totally convinced.”75 A survey of late Ming cartography shows that, despite the Jesuits’ efforts, the majority of Chinese scholars followed traditional concepts such as the gaitian theory and the Hua–Yi tu 華夷圖 (Maps of China and Barbarian Countries) pattern in mapmaking.76 Their measurements on a map had little to do with the differences incurred by the earth’s curvature. Their reliance on the grid system to calculate distances was still based upon a belief in the square and flat shape of the earth.77 Though they were capable of using various mensurational and numerical techniques handed down from earlier times, they seldom made systematic efforts to apply these techniques to the investigation of the earth’s shape. As a result, cartographical representations of reality often gave way to political motives, ideological symbolism, as well as artistic inclinations.78 Li Jiubiao not only accepts Aleni’s explanation of the time difference, but he also further points to a false theory among Chinese astronomers, who claim that the positions and movements of celestial bodies had a simultaneous, correlative influence on both natural and human affairs on the “square” earth. In fact, criticism of this kind had already been made by de Ursis fifteen years ago. In his Biaodu shuo, de Ursis draws a set of diagrams, two among which refer to time difference as the evidence for the earth’s sphericity. In the first, the earth is shown as a globe with four points marked on it. De Ursis argues, given the earth’ spherical shape different people at these points must experience different times. In the second, by drawing a square, flat earth according to traditional Chinese cosmology, he reasons that people at different places should have the same hour, but this assumption contradicts our daily experience.79 This argument, later copied by Verbiest in his Kunyu quantu, came from the Ptolemaic scheme of the ecliptic time differences in proportion to locational distances. 80 What Li learns 74

Smith 1996, pp. 43-44.

75

Tushu bian, p. 555.

76

For studies on the Hua-Yi tu layout, see Needham 1959, pp. 547-548; Cao Wanru 1989.

77

Needham selects Luo Hongxian’s 羅洪先 Guangyu tu 廣輿圖 (Enlarged Terrestrial Atlas, based on Zhu Siben’s 朱思本 Yudi tu 輿地圖 from the Yuan dynasty) and a Korean version of Qingjun’s 清浚 Hunyi jiangli tu 混一疆理圖 (Map of the Territories of the One World) as two examples to demonstrate the climax of Chinese scientific tradition in Yuan and Ming. However, neither of them has anything to do with the concept of the earth’s sphericity. See Needham 1959, pp. 551-556; Fuchs 1946, pp. 3-14; Hsu Mei-ling 1997, pp. 41-48; Ledyard 1994, pp. 244-249.

78

Yee 1994, pp. 97-101.

79

De Ursis, Biaodu shuo, pp. 2545-2546.

80

See Ptolemy’s Almagest in: Taliaferro 1952, pp. 8-9; Lin Tongyang 1993, pp. 145-173; Song – Demattè 2007, pp. 72-75.

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about the time difference between Rome and China offers another example for the same argument. Instructed by Aleni, Li embraces Western practical knowledge and meanwhile criticizes the Chinese pseudo-science of astrology. In this dialogic exchange, one can notice again a nuanced identity complex bridging the gap between the self and the other. More discussions on geography, especially the earth’s shape, take place a month later in Kouduo richao. Some instruments often seen in Jesuit scientific works are shown by Aleni and Rudomina, including a world map, a tiandi yi 天 地儀 (armillary sphere), and a wooden globe. Li Jiubiao records his discussion with Aleni on the lengths of days and nights in different places on earth, On the thirteenth I was waiting upon the master together with Wang Zijian 王 子薦 (= Wang Yiqi). We came to talk about the subject of not wasting time while studying diligently, and about what the master had told us about the varying length of day and night. The master said: “Master Lu 盧 (= Rudomina) has been living in the north of Europe, and there sometimes the days are extremely short and the nights extremely long.” I was surprised and did not understand how that could be explained. The master said: “Don’t be amazed at that: in the farthest north there even are places where day and night each last half a year!” Then I was even more surprised. The master smiled and said: “Formerly, when Mr. Xu heard about this, he could not find an explanation, however hard he tried. It was only after I had demonstrated it by means of an astrolabe ( jianping yi 簡平儀) that he fully understood it and went his way [satisfied].” I asked for a summary explanation. The master said: “That region lies exactly under the [celestial] north pole. From the spring equinox to the autumn equinox the sun circles around the upper hemisphere and all the time illuminates the region under the North Pole, so during that half year there always is daylight and no night. From the autumn equinox till the spring equinox the sun circles the lower hemisphere, and its light never reaches the region under the North Pole, so during that half year it always is night and there is no daylight. For the region under the South Pole it is just the opposite. Now in your Chinese chronicles mention is made of [a region where the days are so short that] ‘if you put a piece of mutton on the cook at dawn, the sun will already have set before it is ready’. In general this is true of all the regions in the far north.” After hearing this I was quite upset, as if I had lost my bearings. I withdrew and thought about [the course of the sun as] depicted on the world map, and then I understood a bit of his explanation. Now narrow-minded scholars hold that whatever they do not see with their own eyes does not exist. How can

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they know that its existence can be proved in this way if we investigate according to li (principle)?81

Apparently, this discussion relates to the earth’s spherical shape. It is known that there is a 23.5 degree angle between the earth’s own rotation and its revolution around the sun. Thus at a point on the 66.5 degree latitude where the circle of the earth is tangent to sunlight, there should be 24-hour days or nights. Any point beyond will incur increasingly longer days and shorter nights, as the latitude degrees increase. The majority of Jesuits in China held the geocentric theory that the sun moved around the earth, and the result of their calculation is the same as today’s knowledge based on the fact that the earth moves around the sun. However, to the late Ming Confucians, the claim that the lengths of days and nights may break the limit of 100 ke 刻 (unit of Chinese time-keeping) have been very astounding. Along the middle circle of the three-layered margin in Kunyu wanguo quantu, Ricci affirms that sunlight always shines on the region between 66.3 degrees and 90 degrees at the earth’s rotation. Along the outmost circle, he further marks the long durations of daytime in this region, ranging from a span of 64 days to a span of 177 days.82 This knowledge is also inherent in Aleni’s claim that there are half-a-year-long days and nights in the northernmost regions of the earth. We need to pay special attention to Aleni’s style of instruction, which goes beyond a pure scientific discussion on polar days and nights. When Li expresses his surprise at this novel theory, Aleni recalls the previous example of Xu Guangqi, who could not solve the same puzzle until Aleni showed him an astrolabe. The use of such an example seems quite suggestive. The fact that Xu had to learn from Aleni definitely helped to strengthen the latter’s role as a respectful master of Tianxue. Moreover, as an elite convert, Xu’s acceptance of Western geography served to clarify the authenticity and advancement of the Jesuits’ knowledge in this field. The dynamism of dialogue thus enables Aleni to achieve a “one stone, two birds” result. As a local scholar who had neither received systematic training in Western geography nor had succeeded in the civil service examinations like Xu Guangqi, Li Jiubiao could only subject himself to the authority of his Jesuit master. More interestingly, in the same conversation Aleni quotes a Chinese record to support his argument. The treatment is not surprising to us if we consider the Jesuits’ adaptation strategy in the China mission. For example, in a note to his world map, Ricci quotes a record from Yuanshi 元史 (History of the Yuan Dynasty) to prove the same argument that the lengths of days and nights are different at different places on the earth.83 Aleni adopts the same strategy except that he 81

KDRC, pp. 45-47. Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 204. Zürcher’s translation of jianping yi as “planisphere” does not seem to be accurate, so I have changed it to the common term “astrolabe.” I have also changed the translation of the last sentence to highlight the term li.

82

See Kunyu wanguo quantu (Internet Sources).

83

Kunyu wanguo quantu (Internet Sources).

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does not follow Ricci’s quotation. His reference comes from Xin Tangshu 新唐書 (New History of the Tang Dynasty), which records the polar days and nights in Guligan 骨利幹, the farthest place to the north of the Tang empire. It states: “Across the sea to the north daytime is long but nighttime is short. [People] stew a lamb shoulder at sunset. When it is ready, the east has already turned twilight. The place might be near where the sun rises.”84 A similar record can also be seen in Zizhi tongjian 資 治 通 鑑 (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, 1065–1084) compiled by the Song historian Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086), but he interestingly replaces the original word yangjia 羊胛 (lamb shoulder) with another word yangpi 羊脾 (lamb spleen).85 The above idea has been widely circulated among Neo-Confucian scholars. For example, in Zhuzi yulei, a disciple of Zhu Xi quotes Zizhi tongjian and explains, “It is recorded in [Zizhi ] Tongjian, ‘A man goes to a foreign country. He stews a lamb spleen at night but it soon turns bright. This place is the tip corner of the [square] earth. When the sun goes below the earth, this place always stays bright because nothing can cover it.’”86 He is not much concerned about the real name of the “foreign country,” but he does not hesitate to quote the record from a historical work to reinforce the long-standing Chinese belief of the square, flat shape of the earth. It is likely that Aleni knew the record either directly from any of the above three sources or indirectly from a certain Confucian convert (likely Xu Guangqi or Li Zhizao, etc.). No matter how he had found the source, the original information was further changed. Now the stewing of lamb intestine happens at daytime but not at nighttime, so it turns out to be a “new” fact referring to the long polar nights. More importantly, Aleni’s approach resembles the Neo-Confucian fact-to-reason methodology, but it is based on a completely different concept, namely, the spherical shape of the earth. In this case, knowledge again becomes a manipulable and rewritable resource for a non-Chinese to superimpose a new interpretation onto the original record for a different purpose. By way of such a dialogic exchange, Li Jiubiao also involves himself in the “rewriting” process. After the discussion, Li refers to a world map, likely Aleni’s Wanguo quantu. An extant copy of this map has a layout of three vertically arranged parts. In the top part there is a short preface, where Aleni summarizes some general ideas of Western geography, such as the heavens, the spherical earth, and countries in the five continents, together with a comparison between man’s limited physical body and the infinite heaven created by the Lord of Heaven. The section in the middle is an oval world map with features similar to Ricci’s Kunyu wanguo quantu. The bottom part consists of two hemispheres

84

Xin Tangshu, in ESSS, vol. 45, p. 6144.

85

Li Zongtong – Xia Deyi 1970, vol. 198, p. 118.

86

Zhuzi yulei, in SKQS, vol. 700, p. 21. The Chinese text reads: 通鑑說：有人適外國，夜 熟一羊脾而天明。此是地之角尖處。日入地下，而此處無所遮蔽，故常光明。

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drawn with polar projection.87 It must have been challenging for Li to use a map of this kind to understand his master’s point. Nonetheless, he would accept this type of new knowledge and criticize “narrow-minded” Confucian scholars. The conversation between Aleni and Li Jiubiao reveals a remarkable exchange of voices. While the Jesuit master attempts to adapt his new theory to traditional Chinese geographical knowledge, the convert disciple absorbs it and distinguishes himself from other Chinese scholars. The use of the word li in Li’s comment is especially suggestive, because it carries both the Neo-Confucian sense of universal principle and Western scholastic reasoning. As a result, Aleni and Li Jiubiao consciously create an in-between understanding acceptable on both sides. No doubt, it becomes a type of hybrid knowledge realized by means of a self–other dialogic exchange. On the next day, Li Jiubiao puts forth more questions on the world map. Aleni does not seem to be satisfied with a two-dimensional flat map representation, so he brings out a tiandi yi (armillary sphere) for astronomical calculation.88 Li records, On the fourteenth Chen Kongxi (= Chen Kekuan) came to the church, and I told him what the master yesterday had said about the varying length of day and night. Just at that moment Master Ai came out, and I again used the world map to ask further questions. The master said: “That will not do.” He then produced an armillary sphere and showed it to us, explaining it point by point. Since I am slow-witted by nature, I could not understand it clearly. He said: “How can you be expected to catch all this in one go? For the time being first memorize the names of the various circles, and then you can go on learning it step by step. […] After a while Master Lu came out. When he saw me holding the armillary sphere, he laughed and said: “You have the whole universe in your hand!” I asked for further instruction. The master said: “The sun actually has two movements: there is the autonomous movement of its own celestial sphere, and there is the movement imparted to it by the sphere of Prime Movement (zongdong tian [宗動天] = Primum Mobile) by which it is carried along. Its autonomous movement goes from west to east, at a constant slow pace of one degree each day; that is the orbit which it describes all around heaven in one year. The movement imparted to it as it is carried along by the sphere of Prime Movement goes from east to west at a high speed, moving around the full circle of heaven of 360 degrees; that is 87

Walravens 1991, p. 31.

88

A picture of the tiandi yi is on Ricci’s world map, see Kunyu wanguo quantu (Internet Sources), lower right corner. In the note near the image, Ricci explains the main function of the tiandi yi and its various components, such as meridian circles and the round earth at the center. For a discussion on the armillary spheres used in ancient China and by the Jesuits in the late imperial period, see Needham 1959, pp. 339-390.

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the orbit which it describes all around heaven in one day. People only know that the sun goes from east to west; they do not know that it also goes from west to east as a result of its autonomous movement. Some scholars of the past came near to the truth when they called it ‘an ant walking on a millstone’.”89

In this conversation, Li tries to memorize the new names on the tiandi yi, since they are the first step to obtain the new knowledge of heaven and earth. When Rudomina joins in the discussion, he answers Li’s question through a Chinese metaphor to bridge Western astronomy and Chinese astronomy. The “yi xing moshi zhi shang 蟻行磨石之上 (ant on the millstone)” metaphor was used by Chinese astronomers in the Zhoubi 周髀 school to promote the gaitian theory.90 In Lunheng 論衡 (Discussions on Balance), the Han Confucian Wang Chong 王 充 (ca. 27–79) writes, [The sun and the moon] are attached to heaven, and follow its movements during the four seasons. Their movement may be compared to that of ants crawling on a rolling mill-stone. The movements of the sun and the moon are slow, while heaven moves very fast. Heaven carries the sun and the moon with it, so they really move eastward, but are turned westward.91

Here Wang identifies the motion of the sun and the moon proceeding contrary to the movement of heaven. This argument, in fact, much resembles Rudomina’s explanation of the two reverse movements of the sun. Due to the structural difference between the gaitian theory and the Ptolemaic model, Rudomina has to be careful not to confuse the two theories. This is why he would specify the word “similar” in his comparison. His argument reminds us of dialogues of other Jesuits with Confucian scholars. For example, in Tianzhu shiyi, Ricci in the voice of a Western scholar gives comments on Confucian thought, saying, “When it comes to the ‘existence’ and ‘sincerity’ of the Confucians, however, although I have not heard a complete explanation of these words, they would seem to be close to the truth.”92 While Confucian moral principles are “similar” to Christian doctrines, the practical learning of Confucianism is “similar” to Western sciences as well. In this way the Jesuits create a flexible and open dialogic relation in which their Western self can be at an advantage over the Chinese other. On the next day, Li engages in a discussion with Rudomina on the same topic. He does not seem to have fully understood Aleni’s previous explanation, so Rudomina shows him a small wooden globe to visualize the concept of the earth’s spherical shape. The Kouduo richao records: On the fifteenth Master Lu was walking at his leisure in the outer hall. He was looking intently at the world map. I asked the master: “World maps are made 89

KDRC, pp. 48-50; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 207-210.

90

Jinshu 晉書 (History of the Jin Dynasty), in ESSS, vol. 14, pp. 278-279. There is another reference of the same metaphor in KDRC, pp. 122-123.

91

Wang Chong, Lunheng, “Shuori” 說日(Chapter 32). Here I adopt Alfred Forke’s translation. See Forke 1962, p. 266.

92

TCSI, pp. 98-99.

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in different styles. I think that it is necessary to have plane ones, hemispherical ones, and half plane ones; only [by using them in combination] we get a perfect representation of the globular of the earth.” The master said: “Those made in a globular shape are even better. In that way it is easier to see things.” He then brought out a wooden globe, so small that it just filled his hand. What was painted on it was not different from a map, but because of its globular shape you could see at a glance what [the masters] meant when they said that on all sides people are living, the soles of their feet facing each other. Then the master again took the armillary sphere for the sake of comparison. He turned to me and said: “The way of heaven is constant movement; the way of the earth is constant stillness. Now let us try to use the globe to represent the earth and the armillary sphere to represent the heavens. By defining the elevation of the pole [star] and the meridian where the sun is standing [at a given place on earth], we can measure the distance to other places to the east and to the west in terms of degrees, and see how time varies accordingly.” Then I remembered how Master Ai had told me that when it is wu [午] (11 A.M.–1 P.M.) in this country it still is yin [寅] (3–5 A.M.) in the Great West. When looking at this globe, I believed his words all the more. […] Master Lu again took the globe and compared it with the map. I noticed that there were slight differences in regards to the degrees of eastern and western [longitude]. The master said: “It is easy to define the location of countries on the great earth in terms of northern and southern [latitude], but it is difficult to do so in terms of eastern and western [longitude].” When I asked why, he said: “For defining northern and southern [latitude] one only has to measure the number of degrees of the elevation of the north or south pole star; this will show one’s position on the earth as regards high or low [latitude] quite exactly, without the slightest error. But in order to determine eastern or western [longitude] one has to wait for a lunar eclipse, and find out at what time it takes place in one country and at what time in another country, or, in case of a solar eclipse, how many minutes it lasts in one country and how many minutes in another; and in which country it occurs and in which one it does not. It is only by collecting those data and by drawing conclusions from them that the [longitudinal] distances on the earth can be ascertained.” I thought: “How vast is the extent of the great earth! Without understanding the principles of astronomy and using them to find out the orderly arrangement of geographical configurations, how could we determine altitude and distance on the earth?”93

93

KDRC, pp. 50-52; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 211-214. I have changed the word “produced” to “brought out” to avoid a possible confusion that Rudomina was making the wooden globe while talking with Li Jiubiao.

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The conversation again reveals Li’s devotion to Western learning by way of his dialogic exchanges with the Jesuit masters. He understands that the concept of the spherical earth may have different types of representations. On the other hand, when Rudomina presents the wooden globe Li is able to extend the new knowledge to other related concerns, such as people living on all sides of the earth, time differences, as well as the close ties between astronomy and geography. The new knowledge is obtained in a progressive, interactive learning process. Again, in such a dynamic dialogic exchange, the key concern lies in one’s attitude towards the other, rather than one’s ability to understand the other. 3.2.2. Four Elements vs. Five Agents

In addition to the earth’s spherical shape, the concept of the Four Elements, often translated as sixing 四行 in Chinese, is also discussed in Kouduo richao. The Western origin of the concept may be traced to early Greek philosophy.94 Since the late medieval time, Aristotle’s theory on the Four Elements was assimilated in Catholic theology as an essential ingredient of medieval cosmology. When the Jesuits introduced the concept to China, it has gone through a long process of synthesis and reconciliation between Aristotelian natural philosophy and Catholic theology. 95 Bearing such a historical context in mind, we can understand how Aleni argues for validity of his concept of the Four Elements in contrast to the traditional Chinese theory of wuxing 五行, or the Five Agents – fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. On September 3, 1631, Aleni had a conversation with the converts in Haikou. Right after a criticism at the unfounded ideas on the Jade Emperor and the City Gods, the convert Shi Luke 石魯可 turned to another topic on the difference between the Western concept of the Four Elements and the Chinese concept of the Five Agents. He asks, “In my country all people talked about the Five Agents since ancient time, saying that ten thousand things cannot be formed without these agents. But in your country there is a special claim on the Four Elements of fire, air, water, and earth, with air [qi] being added but metal and wood being removed. Why so?” This question is particularly intriguing, as it points to the fundamental difference of two cultural understandings of the material formation of the world. In response, Aleni gives a brief but substantial answer: The pure substances in the universe that do not owe their existence to other things are called “elements.” They are Fire, Air, Water and Earth. Now Metal and Wood definitely are composed of those four, so they have to be moved down one level and cannot be put on a par with the elements. Take Wood to verify this. If you by way of experiment take a piece of wood the size of a finger and burn it, first water will come out at both ends: that is the element of Water. Later on it will produce smoke: that is Air. It is burning: that is Fire. It turns to ash: that is Earth. Now since the wood by transformation is reduced 94

Lindberg 1992, pp. 31, 40; Guthrie 1962–1965, vol. 2, pp. 138-158.

95

Lindberg 1992, pp. 215-244.

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to the Four Elements, it is obvious that it is composed of those four. And again, if you look at the human body: its warmth is Fire; the breath is Air; the essential fluids and blood are Water, and the bones and flesh are Earth. Hence the [physical] human being is made up by a combination of Fire, Air, Water and Earth. We [in the West] know for sure that there only are those four elements, and that is why we do not mention the two Agents of Metal and Wood.96

The answer reveals a typical scholastic thinking originated from Aristotelian natural philosophy. Aristotle’s theory of the Four Elements exerted tremendous impact on medieval cosmology. In his De generatione et corruptione, he defines the Four Elements with two pairs of contradictory qualities: hot–cold and wet– dry. The total four combinations of these qualities match each of the Four Elements: cold and dry for earth, hot and dry for fire, cold and wet for water, and hot and wet for air. If any of the qualities is changed, one element will be transmuted into another. For example, if hot is overcome by cold, air will give rise to water.97 Moreover, the Four Elements can be categorized through another pair of qualities: heavy and light. Since earth is the heaviest of all, it descends by nature and sits at the center of the universe. The remaining three – water, air, fire – will form concentric spheres above in their respective order. Aristotle further challenged Plato’s homogeneous, triangle-based cosmos by dividing it into two distinct regions: the terrestrial region formed by the Four Elements and the celestial region composed of aether, or the fifth element.98 As one of the key concepts in medieval cosmology, the Four Elements were introduced by the Jesuits in their early Chinese works, e.g., Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi and Qiankun ti yi 乾坤體義 (On the Structure of Heaven and Earth, ca. 1608).99 The above Aristotelian legacy is quite visible in Aleni’s answer. First, he points out the independent character of these elements. His intent is to identify some fundamental ingredients to which all substances on earth could be reduced. Second, though Aleni does not mention the paired qualities of the elements, his example of wood turning into the other three elements after being burnt clearly exposes the Aristotelian idea of generation and corruption via transmutation within the terrestrial region. Aleni further employs the human body to prove the universal existence of the Four Elements. This again reveals the Aristotelian grounding of his inquiry for unity behind diversity, and order behind change. Shi Luke’s concern about the reasons that Aleni holds a theory different from the Chinese Five Agents Theory indicates a challenge from the Jesuits’s side. In fact, Aleni was not the first Jesuit in late Ming China who would demonstrate the validity of the Four Elements. Ricci had already introduced it in his early works. 96

KDRC, pp. 126-127; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 281-282.

97

Aristotle, De Generatione et Corruptione, in: Aristotle, vol. 1, pp. 540-545.

98

Lindberg 1992, pp. 39-41, 54-58, 247.

99

Zhang Xiping 2001, pp. 26-29.

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In Tianzhu shiyi, he borrows the Aristotelian categorization of substance and accident, and he assigns the Four Elements to the former category because of their self-independent nature. 100 When he argues on the immortality of human soul, Ricci in the voice of a Western scholar gives an explanation on the corruption of the Four Elements caused by their contradictory qualities. He says, Everything in the world comes into existence through the combination of the Four Elements: fire, air, water, and earth. It is the nature of fire to be dry and hot, so that it is in conflict with water which is by nature cold and wet. Air is by nature moist and hot and is therefore the exact opposite of earth which is naturally dry and cold. And two of these mutually antagonistic elements are bound to harm each other; and if they are combined into one thing, it is impossible for them to remain in harmony over a long period of time. There will inevitably be a constant struggle between them, and when one is victorious, the product of their union will come to an end. Thus, anything composed of the Four Elements is bound to be destroyed. The intellectual soul, however, is spirit and has no connection with the Four Elements. There is no reason, therefore, for it to be destroyed.101

What Ricci suggests here is the superior status of the indestructible human soul to things made of the Four Elements and, on this basis, the master position of Catholic theology to the servant role of scientific knowledge. In Tianzhu shiyi, Ricci only briefly introduces the Four Elements. But in Qiankun ti yi, he specifically targets the Chinese theory of the Five Agents. There are two crucial points that Ricci would consider unreasonable in such a theory. First, metal and wood are thought to have the same fundamental nature with fire, water, and earth. They are neither pure nor irreducible materials, therefore they cannot be called original elements.102 Second, being indifferent to the philosophical and cultural meanings of the Five Agents Theory, Ricci argues that it is strange to construct the generation cycle within the Five Agents: wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal, and metal produces water. The other conquest cycle, which reverses the order of the generation cycle, is totally neglected. The interrelations among the Five Agents could be understood by a Chinese, while Ricci would only acknowledge their natural qualities rather than anything else. His argument reveals a typical scholastic method in reasoning: Those later Confucians talk about water prior to wood, wood prior to fire, fire prior to earth, and earth prior to metal. Hence they say, “Wood results from water; fire results from wood; earth results from fire; metal results from earth, and water results from water.” It is really difficult to follow this theory. Wood has both [natures of] fire and earth, how come it results from water alone? When fire and earth are not yet born, how can wood be formed by itself? If, at the time wood is born, earth is not yet born, on what field can wood be plant100

TCSI, p. 108.

101

TCSI, pp. 148-151.

102

QKTY, p. 761.

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ed? The mutual generation of things at present should be no different from the past. However, now water has neither earth nor fire from the sun, it is not possible to give rise to wood. Wood must exist beforehand. After being planted on earth, sprinkled with water, and warmed by the sun, the roots above and buds below will grow into a tree. It must have been like this in ancient time, why make a different theory without any evidence and research?103

One should note that the target of Ricci is the “later Confucians,” that is, the Neo-Confucians during the Song and Ming periods, though the Five Agents Theory had existed long before the Song time. Similar to his other writings, Ricci strategically takes an “orthodox” viewpoint from classical Confucianism when attempting to reject some Neo-Confucian thoughts unfavorable to the Christian doctrines. In Kouduo richao, Aleni also introduces the Aristotelian theory to support Ricci’s earlier arguments. In a conversation on April 15, 1633, Yan Zanhua asks Aleni about the changes of the elements, After the master had retired, [Yan] Sican (= Yan Zanhua) asked him: “Does Prime Matter [ yuanzhi 元質] ever increase or decrease?” The master said: “It is subject to change, but not to increase or decrease.” Sican said: “I have observed how wood changes into charcoal, and charcoal into ashes. Gradually it changes and decreases, until almost nothing is left. And look at that wax candle: you make it burn, and after some time it will have disappeared completely. Where has the matter gone [it was composed of]?” The master said: “When wood changes into charcoal [and charcoal into ashes], the ashes that remain only constitute the element Earth that formed part of the wood. The other parts of it have changed into Fire or Air or Water. All things of heaven-and-earth are formed by a combination of the Four Elements, and when they undergo change [the compounds] again are reduced to the Four Elements. Therefore I said that Prime Matter is subject to change but not to increase or decrease.”104

This clearly is an argument in line with the Aristotelian principle of generation and corruption. On the surface, it resembles the Chinese Five Agents Theory consisting of a generation cycle and a conquest cycle. However, the Five Agents in the Chinese context are defined by characterization rather than construction. In other words, wood, fire, earth, metal, and water only described how things in the world operate through correlative relations. What can constitute these things is something else, most normally qi, as will be discussed in the next part. To the contrary, fire, air, water, and earth in a medieval European context should be the structural elements of things between heaven and earth, though their very origin in turn comes from the omnipotent Lord of Heaven. The discussions above indicate that the Four-Elements-Theory became a big challenge to the Chinese Five-Agents-Theory in the late Ming. The Jesuits adopt103

QKTY, p. 761.

104

KDRC, pp. 274-275; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 398-399.

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ed scholastic reasoning to criticize the latter as an imperfect system. Thus, misinterpretations seemed to be inevitable when they attempted to read familiar natural qualities into the elements (hot, cold, dry, wet, etc.) without taking into account Chinese concerns about the extensive symbolic and moralistic qualities (seasons, animals, colors, virtues, offices, and dynastic successions, etc.). 105 Moreover, Aleni and other Jesuits treated the Four Elements Theory as evidence of God’s providence. Hence it would have been unacceptable to regard the elements as part of an autonomously generated cosmos, as the Chinese did. However, the Jesuits by no means totally rejected the Five Agents Theory. They adopted the Chinese word xing 行 to translate and define the Four Elements. At least three out of the Five Agents were identical by name with those from the Four Elements – fire, water, and earth. More importantly, the two theories had a similar epistemological purpose, i.e., to find correlativity, unity, and order in a changing world. Hence, it was not the Jesuits’ intent to replace the “outdated” Chinese theory with an “advanced” Western theory. One can only conclude that, by introducing the Four Elements Theory to China, the Jesuits presented an alternative, but not exclusive, interpretation to explain the construction of the universe. 3.2.3. Qi: Material or Spiritual?

One of the major challenges of the Four Elements Theory lies in its re-definition of qi in a Chinese context. This is the reason that, in the conversation quoted above, Shi Luke seems to be puzzled about the different Western idea of qi. Early on Chinese people saw qi as a formless, flowing, and vital substance, not necessarily air alone. As a root for all things with shape and life in the universe, qi carries a dualistic yin-yang character, whose derivatives (e.g., male vs. female, limpid vs. turbid, and hot vs. cold) somehow resemble the Aristotelian paired qualities of the Four Elements. Early Chinese definitions of qi, especially those in the Warring States period and the Han dynasty, revealed a mixture of materialistic and metaphysical concerns. For example, while Confucius defined qi as breath flowing along with blood in man’s body, Mencius regarded qi as man’s vigor, subordinate to his will yet assisted by righteousness, and capable of growing till it fills up all between heaven and earth.106 However, Zhuangzi considered qi the essential element – making form out of the formless – in an endless transformation of life and death.107 Understandably, a big gap occurs between Shi’s and Aleni’s definitions of qi. Like Ricci, Aleni simply takes it as one of the Four Elements created by the Lord of Heaven. The nature of qi is physical rather than metaphysical. Its European equivalent is air, an invisible but substantial component of things in the universe. In Tianzhu shiyi, this definition allows Ricci to reject the Chinese scholar’s 105

De Bary 1999, vol. 1, pp. 347-352.

106

Legge translates Confucius’ xueqi 血氣 (blood and breath) as “physical powers” and Mencius’ qi as “passion-nature.” See Legge 2001, vol. I, pp. 312-313; vol. II, pp. 188-190.

107

Watson translates it as “spirit.” See Watson 1996, p. 113.

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equivalence of qi, or vital force of yin–yang duality, to human soul. 108 Qi, he argues, should not be taken as the essence for life, “Air together with the other three elements: water, fire, and earth, provides bodily forms of all things, and the soul is an internal constituent of man. It is the lord and master of the body, and ventilates the body with air by causing it to breathe in and out. Because men, birds, and beasts all live in air, they all make use of breathing to regulate their internal temperatures. They use the unceasing process of breathing to change their air, and thereby to expel heat and to draw in coolness.” 109 According to Ricci, qi should only be defined as air by its physical nature. He confirms in Qiankun ti yi that, though air is accepted as one of the Four Elements, the physical nature of qi should rather be differentiated from the spiritual nature of the human soul.110 After Ricci, Vagnone in Kongji gezhi develops more systematic arguments on the nature of qi as air and the different strata of qi in the terrestrial region. He first lists six reasons to prove that, though invisible for the naked eye, qi has a real existence. The reasons are: 1. Qi is a substance filling empty space in the cosmos; 2. qi supports birds in flight; 3. qi can be felt when a person is walking fast; 4. One can make a sound by cracking a whip in the air; 5. qi is moved and can be sensed when we open or close doors in a room; 6. qi visibly disturbs the dust in a quiet room.111 As to the spheres of qi around the earth, Vagnone follows Ricci’s argument in Qiankun ti yi and divides it into three – hot sphere above, cold sphere in the middle, and warm sphere below – situated between the sphere of water and the sphere of fire. This division is further applied to other major features associated with qi, such as the easy loss of its nature due to the environment, its round shape, and its natural upward movement.112 Certainly, the arguments signal the Jesuits’ collective effort to present a new theory of qi, which they justify as a supplement to the “imperfect” concepts found in traditional Chinese thought.113 In Sanshan lunxue ji, Aleni engages in a long discussion with Ye Xianggao on the concept of qi and the Chinese thought of afterlife retribution. Ye first raises his question: Some people say that human soul is jingqi 精氣 (vital energy). When qi concentrates, there will be life; when qi disperses, there will be death. How could there be rewards and punishments after death? Though sometimes the spiritual qi of a man may be vital, concentrated and does not disperse, given that the

108

TCSI, pp. 186-189.

109

Ibid., pp. 200-201. I have changed the translation of qi from “material energy” to “air” to match its meaning in the Western context.

110

QKTY, pp. 764-765.

111

KJGZ, pp. 893-895.

112

QKTY, pp. 764-765; KJGZ, pp. 896-901.

113

HCC 1, pp. 606-607.

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body has vanished, where could suffering and happiness be received, or where could rewards and punishments be granted?”114

This argument is not groundless, as Ye may have in his mind some established Chinese understandings of qi and jingqi. The concepts qi and jingqi have been discussed by Chinese scholars early on. For example, Guan Zhong 管仲 (725–645 B.C.E.), an influential statesman during the Spring and Autumn period, explained the essential features of jingqi as follows: It is ever so that the vital essence of things is what gives them life. Below it gives life to the five grains; above it creates the ranked stars. When floating between heaven and earth, we call it ghost or spirit. When stored in the breast, we call it sageliness. Thus, man’s vital force – How bright! As if mounting the heavens. How dark! As if entering an abyss. How vast! As if filling the ocean. How compact! As if contained within the self. Thus, this vital force – Never to be restrained by physical strength, it may be brought to rest by spiritual power. Never to be summoned by one’s call, it may be made welcome by one’s power of awareness. Respectfully preserve and never lose it, such is called perfecting one’s Power. Power being perfected, wisdom develops, and all things may be fully comprehended.115

In this description, qi or jingqi carries a mysterious nature – vital and life-giving on the one hand but restless and shapeless on the other. Understandably, the concept was often considered the key to life and death. Zhuangzi in his writings mentioned that the concentration of qi caused birth while its dispersal caused death.116 No later than the Han dynasty, qi had become a popular idea, especially in medical practices and the deep breathing exercises in Daoism. In refuting such Buddhist ideas as the eternal soul and reincarnation, the conservative scholars would often reinforce the unique role of qi in native Chinese thought.117 The tradition qi theory was refined by the Song–Ming Neo-Confucians. Zhang Zai 張載 (1020–1077), a leading Neo-Confucian in the Song dynasty, claimed that qi should be regarded as the origin of the universe, “a psycho-physical sub114

SSLXJ, p. 469.

115

Rickett 1998, vol. 2, pp. 39-40.

116

Hamill – Seaton 1998, p. 122.

117

Li Shen 2003, pp. 68-69.

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stance that includes both spirit and matter, manifests itself as a dynamic energy which integrates and consolidates to form all creatures, and then, in the natural course, disintegrates to return to the original undifferentiated state of primal vacuity.”118 In line with this understanding, the Cheng Brothers and Zhu Xi developed their own theories and reinterpretations. They argued that, in addition to the universal existence of qi, there also existed li, the principle underlying each and every individual thing. In the eyes of Zhu Xi, these two terms were interdependent, but li had a metaphysical character and thus appeared to be superior to qi. The term qi was reinterpreted by the Ming Neo-Confucians, especially those from the School of the Learning of the Mind-and-Heart (xinxue 心學). Zhan Ruoshui 湛若水 (1466–1560), for example, proposed a fairly dualistic view, saying that both the mind and qi were the ontological origin(s) of the universe.119 However, Wang Shouren with a particular emphasis on liangzhi considered qi a marginal, even negligible element. These diverse interpretations and reinterpretations of qi revealed a complex process of negations among different schools of thought. The refined Neo-Confucian arguments on qi sounded rather suspicious if not meaningless to the Jesuits in late Ming China. Their main task was to introduce a different and yet acceptable Western definition of qi based on medieval scholastic knowledge. In this respect, being aware of Ye Xianggao’s conceptual confusion between the material and the spiritual, Aleni had to disagree with Ye’s equation of qi with human soul. The first part of his response to Ye does not differ much from Ricci’s argument. He says: According to the study of nature in my country, qi is one of the Four Elements. Insensate and void, it spreads all over the cosmos without being perceived at all. To things it is the material of transformation; to man it is the necessity of breath and bodily nourishment. This is not what is called intelligent soul. A man changes his breaths tens of thousands times day and night in the air without stopping at any time. If the soul is qi, then it is also subjected to changes. If it changes, the man will change along with it. The self at day time then is not the self at night time. Can there be such a principle? … It is thus clear that qi is qi while soul is soul. They are two markedly different things. How is it possible to blend them into one without distinction?120

The argument sounds convincing for its strong logical reasoning. But Ye responds that Aleni’s (re)interpretation of qi as air is not what he means for jingqi, so Aleni makes a further distinction between jingqi and lingming 靈明, or “spiritual intelligence,” which is the primary function of the human soul. Since the status of one’s physical energy does not match one’s intelligence all the time, it is clear that the two concepts cannot be the same.121 In this dialogic exchange Aleni 118

De Bary 1999, vol. 1, p. 683.

119

Hou – Qiu – Zhang 1984, vol. 2, pp. 173-179.

120

SSLXJ, pp. 469-470.

121

Ibid., p. 471.

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goes beyond the limits of Ricci’s argument. He does not regard jingqi as nonsense. Instead he argues that, even if jingqi may not always refer to air in the Jesuits’ understanding, it still is at best a sort of corruptible energy and thus could not be the eternal human soul. This argument could be a compromise to the traditional Chinese understanding of jingqi, but Aleni is careful to accept it only at a physical level so that its mysterious aspect proposed by Ming scholars could not actually challenge the fundamental Christian doctrines. Aleni’s exchange with Ye Xianggao on qi prepared a solid ground for him to transmit his new definition of the concept to his converts in Fujian. In Kouduo richao, Li Jiubiao records how Aleni explains to him that, due to the various densities of qi, smelted iron is hotter than fire, and likewise, ice is colder than water. Interestingly, Aleni adds a didactic flavor to his argument at the end. He concludes, “And in the same way man’s spiritual force must be concentrated and not dispersed!”122 His purpose is clear in two aspects. On the one hand, he applies two common terms – ning 凝 (concentration) and san 散 (dispersal) – to explain the changeable nature of qi as air. This reasoning links the FourElements-Theory discussed above with the Chinese qi theory, therefore making it more easily understood. On the other hand, however, these terms have little to do with the age-old Chinese understanding of qi as the crucial factor of life and death. In sum, Aleni allows for some connection between qi and the human soul, but they are still kept in two separate domains: the material one and the spiritual one. 3.2.4. Meteorological Phenomena

Meteorology was another part of the practical knowledge about which Fujian converts, especially Li Jiubiao, often asked for instructions from the Jesuit masters. It was not the case that they could not find answers in traditional Chinese sources on phenomena such as meteors, earthquake, rain, wind, and thunder and lightning. When engaging in dialogues with the Jesuits, they were exposed to a different intellectual system that could offer alternative views on the same phenomena. The dynamic exchanges between the self and the other thus reveal another set of diverse voices and horizons crossing, colliding with, or superposing onto each other. In Kouduo richao, the meteorological phenomena discussed are often those people experience in their daily life. For example, on the day a hurricane arose, Lin Yunqing 林雲卿 asked about the origin of wind. In response, Aleni applies Aristotelian natural philosophy: The wind originates from the movement of air, or specifically, the dry, smoke-like exhalation of air. The moist, vapor-like exhalation of air, on the contrary, is said to facilitate the formation of rain.123 It is interesting to note that he uses the Confucian term gewu qiongli 格物窮理 (inves122

KDRC, p. 372; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 469.

123

KDRC, p. 127. For Aristotle’s theory, see “Topics” and “Meteorology,” in: Aristotle, vol. I, pp. 213, 570, 584-585.

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tigation of things and principles) when referring to Aristotelian philosophy. In the previous case about the shadowy areas on the moon, he applied the same term with regard to Western astronomers.124 This terminological equation thus suggests a subtle appropriation of Confucian intellectual prestige for the benefit of the Western learning. Discussions on the causes of earthquakes also show Aleni skillfully interweaving intellectual concerns and religious implications in dialogic exchanges. First, he presents a standard Aristotelian theory, “Inside the earth there are many holes; they are called ‘earth-folds’.” They contain winds that cannot escape, and as those winds are pushing and beating in wild agitation they produce earthquakes.” 125 When Li Jiubiao asks why a certain earthquake can be seen as a portentous disaster, Aleni does not hesitate to relate it to the justice of God, “All things are subject to the Lord of Heaven’s orders. It is true that when the earth quakes and is rent open, it is the inevitable result of [natural] circumstances. But if a whole city with its entire people is swallowed, it certainly is a sign of the Lord of Heaven’s intention to send down punishment. I think that it also helps us to fear the Lord and to practice self-cultivation.” 126 In this case, practical knowledge can only serve as a tool for investigating natural phenomena, but the supreme power lies in the hands of the omnipotent Lord of Heaven. When treating topics such as rain, thunder, and lightening, Aleni often finds himself facing the challenging task of struggling with various Chinese folk beliefs and popular superstitions. On one occasion, Li Jiubiao visits the church in Fuzhou. It is about to rain, so Aleni asks Li to stay for a while. Li therefore asks his master whether in the West people also believe that rain is produced by dragons as the Chinese do. Aleni gives him a twofold answer. First, no one has personally seen a dragon, and the mythical monster only appears in fictional stories in China, but not in the West. Second, he uses his personal observation of rain when sailing to China to confirm that there was no so-called dragon in the cloud. Being aware of the Chinese popular belief, especially the dragon as a symbol of imperial authority, Aleni does not deny the possible existence of dragon outright, “However, among the hairy, feathered and scaly animals between heaven and earth any kind of [strange creatures] can be found. But in any case they only have a sentient soul but not a rational soul.”127 We can take this as an implicit concession to Chinese folk belief, though Aleni would still consider the dragon a kind of animal. 124

KDRC, p. 377.

125

Ibid., p. 128; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 285. Aristotle, “Meteorology,” in: Aristotle, vol. I, p. 592.

126

KDRC, p. 128.

127

Ibid., p. 553; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 591. I have changed the translation of the last sentence, because the terms jue 覺 and ling 靈 obviously refer to the Jesuit terms juehun 覺魂 and linghuan 靈魂 here. For Ricci’s introduction of the three kinds of souls (vegetative soul, sentient soul, and rational soul), see TCSI, p. 246. For an analysis of Aleni’s explanation on these three souls, see Chapter 4.2.1.

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In the following questions on thunder and lightning, Aleni again blends intellectual and religious aspects in his reasoning. These phenomena, he argues, could also be explained by using the Four-Elements-Theory. However, as to whether it is an accident that a human being gets killed by the thunder strike, he refers to the authority of the Lord of Heaven who ordered such a punishment through natural forces.128 3.2.5. Astrology

Chinese astrology also was a frequently discussed subject in Kouduo richao. For one thing, some converts still tended to support the traditional Chinese xingzhui 星墜 (falling star, i.e., meteor) theory, which centers on the popular belief that a falling star may correspond to the death of a general or an official in the imperial court. It provided Aleni with another opportunity to introduce the practical Western knowledge and prove the falsehood of “superstitious” Chinese astrology. On one occasion, Aleni initiates the discussion by asking Li Jiubiao’s view on the xingzhui theory. Li answers that he has heard of this theory before but still feels somewhat uneasy about it. His master then utters his well-prepared argument, “If they really could fall down, the number of stars in the sky should have dwindled in the course of time. But from ancient times till now there never has been such a decrease, so it is beyond doubt [that they do not fall].”129 Li happily agrees to Aleni’s logical reasoning and asks him about another popular belief: A round and bright object often flashes up and flies across the sky in between summer and autumn. The Chinese believe it to be a star losing its position. Aleni offers an Aristotelian explanation: “That is not a star: It is air. By the time summer turns into autumn there are [particles of] oily, greasy air floating around, dispersed in space. When they are exposed to the blazing heat of the sun they catch fire. When one [particle] catches fire they all do [in a rapid succession], and that creates the impression that it is flying past.”130 In fact, the term “oily, greasy air” refers to what Aristotle calls flammable, fuel-like air in the Meteorology.131 Based on this Aristotelian concept, which has been discussed in Ricci’s Qiankun ti yi and Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi, Aleni targets the xingzhui theory as a starting point to criticize the astrologic divinations popular among the Chinese people.132 His view also echoes the policy of the Roman Catholic Church banning all astrologic practices in post-Renaissance Europe.133 The following arguments vividly show how Aleni convinces his converts that fortunes and misfortunes on earth have nothing to do with stars in heaven. First, he rejects the idea that the positions of stars can control fortunes and misfortunes. 128

KDRC, pp. 553-554.

129

Ibid., pp. 130-131; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 287.

130

KDRC, p. 131.

131

Aristotle, Meteorology, in: Aristotle, vol. I, pp. 559, 563.

132

QKTY, p. 766; KJGZ, pp. 925-926.

133

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 287.

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Interestingly, he quotes two statements in Shangshu and Yijing to argue that man’s own moral deeds determine his destiny. The former says, “If a man does good things, Shangdi will send him a hundred auspicious things. If a man does bad things, Shangdi will send him a hundred disastrous things.”134 In the second statement, a similar idea states that “The family that accumulates good must have extra happiness, while the family that accumulates bad must have extra misfortune.”135 The strategy employed here is strikingly similar to the earlier case mentioned above, in which Aleni reinterprets a historical record from Xin Tangshu to support his argument of the spherical shape of the earth. Both statements are quoted for moral admonition, with Aleni assuming the role of an “orthodox” Confucian scholar who criticizes the superstitious astrologic belief in later ages. Though he does not specify Shangdi in the former statement, Aleni certainly intends to reinforce the connection between this term and the Christian God. Before him, Ricci went to great lengths to prove from the Confucian classics that Shangdi could be equated with Tianzhu, the Catholic name for God.136 What Aleni argues for is a continuation of Ricci’s method. He aims at a composite construction that integrates moral, religious, and practical knowledge from both Chinese and Christian traditions. Since astrologic divination is a serious matter in both political and intellectual aspects, Li Jiubiao still shows a little hesitation to abandon it completely. He argues that in historical records emperors, generals and ministers are said to have their corresponding positions in the constellations, and therefore astrologers would use the xingzhui theory for divination. This argument is based on ancient records, too, and refers to the dominant imperial ideology in China. Aleni’s answer to this is subtle indeed. The correspondences between stars and human beings, he argues, have been made by different peoples with no fixed standard. For example, to the Chinese the star of guanxiu 貫宿 is related to imprisonment, but in the West it is called “the crown” (Corona Borealis) and considered to be a symbol of honor and good luck. Hence, the standard for symbolic associations is not fixed, but rather depends on the cultural tradition it is embedded in. With such a logical reasoning Aleni makes his point that Chinese astrology is unfounded. Contrasting negative and positive names for the same star also serve his intent to undermine the Sinocentric mindset, by making clear that the Chinese standard cannot be considered a universal one. Against this challenge from the Western other Li naturally puts forward a defense of the established knowledge of the Chinese self: the historical records mention numerous cases where astrologic predictions have come true as proof of 134

Kong Anguo 孔安國 (ca. 2nd c. B.C.E.) and Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574–648), Shangshu zhengyi 尚書正義 (Correct Interpretations of the Book of History), in SSJZS, vol. 1, p. 163.

135

Wang Bi 王弼 (226–249), Zhouyi zhengyi 周易正義 (Annotation of the Book of Changes), in SSJZS, vol. 1, p. 19.

136

TCSI, pp. 122-125.

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their efficacy. To Aleni, this seemingly strong argument is equally untenable. If compared to many more inaccurate predictions left out in historical records, these accurate predictions are only a small number of coincidences. After hearing the master’s words, Li quickly abandons his previous hesitation and expresses a criticism of Chinese astrology: In the dingmao 丁卯 year (= 1627) I once saw the planet Mars enter the Southern Dipper, and in the months before and after the event astrologers with their bigoted belief in ancient historical [precedents] considered it a bad omen. At first I too was uncertain and afraid. But [see what happened]: today, with a saintly ruler on the throne and with the Imperial Plan firmly established, the situation is improving each day and becoming more stable each month. From this we can see that when the planet Mars entered the Southern Dipper it just was an event necessitated by the operations of nature. It certainly had nothing to do with the good luck or misfortune of the [ruling] family and the state. 137

Though the discussion has deviated from scientific concerns, Li shows a vivid example of his “intellectual conversion” from Chinese learning to Western learning. In other words, the self may change his voices along with a dialogic exchange with the other. In 1632, during his trip to Dehua, Aleni had another opportunity to criticize the xingzhui theory. He visited the home of a local scholar surnamed Lin, who performed the ritual offering of incense to Lord Wenchang 文 昌 . 138 Lord Wenchang was said to be a god residing in his palace near the Big Dipper, and by the Song dynasty he has been respected as the patron of Confucian literati and candidates of the civil service examinations.139 In the eyes of Aleni, as we can see in the record of Kouduo richao, this ritual is rather pointless because the stars in heaven are soulless like candles in the mortal world. When Lin defends his point by using the xingzhui theory, Aleni repeats the argument he once gave to Li Jiubiao, namely, that from past to present there has been no decrease of the number of stars. His criticism upsets Lin and the converts sitting next to him, likely for their self-esteem as Confucians supposedly under the protection of Lord Wenchang. They “remain silent for a rather long time,” then in a polite manner they ask their Jesuit master about the biblical story of the Magi from the east observing a great star at the birth of Christ.140 Aleni answers that this does not mean that the star had a soul but rather that it was under the guidance of the tianshen 天神 (angels).

137

KDRC, p. 134; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 289.

138

Lin is addressed with the title taixue 太學, which refers to a graduate from the Imperial Academy. See Hucker 1985, p. 478. Lin taixue may possibly be Lin Jun 林焌, a native of Dehua who wrote a poem in Xichao chongzheng ji (WX, pp. 659-660). See Lin Jinshui 1996, p. 193.

139

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 350.

140

Mt 2:1-12.

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The discussion reaches an ideological level after Lin brings forward two further questions. Not being convinced, he asks Aleni on the purpose of the Chinese historians’ astrologic practices. Aleni answers, By observing the signs of heaven he [the Grand Astrologer] foretold whether in that year the harvest would be plentiful or poor, and he predicted [for the different seasons] the temperature, the wind and rainfall, and the amount of sunshine and cloudy weather. That is in accordance with reason. Therefore it is said in the Mao version of the Book of Odes: “The moon is standing in the Hyades / which will bring torrential rains.” That shows that Confucius also made provisions for rainfall after having observed the stars.141

With this argument Aleni once again pursues the strategy discussed before, i.e., to synthesize Confucian classics and Tianxue so as to attack popular astrologic divination. Lin makes his final rebuttal by pointing out that Venus was seen to enter the Southern Dipper two years ago. To him this phenomenon supports the astrologic prediction of a recent military invasion of the Manchus in Liaodong 遼 東 in northeast China.142 As a response, Aleni’s answer suggests clear logic yet with a satirical undertone: You apparently think that whenever there is the disaster of war the planet Venus is seen in [the Southern Dipper]? I now have been in China for more than twenty years. Has there been any year without war, any region free from trouble? If it did not happen in Guangdong or south of the Yangzi, it happened in Shandong or in Hebei. Was all that known beforehand by practicing astrology?143

In Kouduo richao, Aleni is not often seen engaging in discussions on the unstable political situation of the late Ming empire. But in this dialogue his argument goes well beyond a simple criticism of the errors of astrological divisions. Being a foreign observer, he grasps one of the acute concerns about warfare in China at that time. We may notice the fact that Aleni’s criticism of Chinese astrology is not based on the low esteem of astrology in modern times. Astrologic theory and practices existed in Europe throughout the medieval period, but after its integration with Aristotelian natural philosophy in the 12th century astrology was gradually accepted as the empirical and rational investigation of the causal connections between the heavens and the earth, no longer as a horoscopic art to predict auspicious or ominous moments of private and public destinies.144 It was in the latter sense that astrology met with fundamental objections from the Roman Catholic Church. On the other hand, it is in the former sense that astrology fused with Aristotelian natural philosophy and theology through constant reconciliation. In the course of this process, suspicious ideas, including the determinist view of the 141

KDRC, p. 211; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 350.

142

For research on the Manchu invasion of 1629–1630, see Atwell 1988, pp. 616-617.

143

KDRC, p. 212. Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 350.

144

Lindberg 1992, pp. 274-280.

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operation of the cosmos and the materialist view on human soul, had to be condemned and removed, while the “valuable” elements, such as the concentric cosmic structure and the prognostication of stellar and planetary influence on the earth, were kept as knowledge in support of the Christian doctrines. When faced with Chinese astrologic beliefs and practices, Aleni adopts the same stance. The different movements of stars, he argues, may affect weather and harvest on the earth, but it is wrong to connect them with man’s fortune or misfortune.145 Moreover, Aleni’s exchanges with Li and Lin reveal a conscious effort to quote from classical Confucian works in support of his criticisms of “superstitious” Chinese astrology. Both for him and the converts, the natural result would be a hybrid Christian–Confucian learning. 3.2.6. Geomancy

The dialogic exchanges on practical knowledge between Aleni and Confucian scholars in Fujian also touched upon the subject of Chinese geomancy, often called kanyu 堪輿 or fengshui 風水.146 It refers to a form of divination that specialized in observing signs of the earth, and “an art concerned primarily with siting of such structures as buildings and graves in auspicious locations so as to benefit the living and pacify the dead.”147 Geomantic practices, primarily based on the yin–yang balance of qi, the mutual generation and conquest of the Five Agents and the Eight Trigrams had a long tradition in China’s history.148 In the imperial period, this art gained great popularity in all walks of life and flourished in the southern regions of China, including Fujian.149 The reason that Aleni chose to attack this pseudo-science lay in its assumption that a man could manipulate cosmic forces to influence future events. By choosing the right locations for residence and burial, one might bring prosperity to a family and pacify the spirits of the deceased ancestors. This assumption was theologically untenable, for man would have been equal to God if he possessed the power of controlling his own destiny. Not surprisingly, Aleni would not tolerate any Chinese geomantic beliefs and practices. During a conversation recorded in Kouduo richao, Aleni finds a chance to convince Li Jiubiao that the kanyu theory has no value because of its delusional nature. Much impressed by his master’s serious attitude, Li puts down a detailed note of the conversation: While I was waiting upon the master, we came to talk about geomancy. Master Ai said: “While man is alive his eyes can see, his ears can hear, his mouth 145

KDRC, p. 132.

146

The word kanyu literally means “heaven and earth,” which is in wording different from the equivalent term for geomancy, fengshui, or “wind and water.”

147

Henderson 1994, p. 216.

148

Liu Peilin 1995, pp. 25-60; Wong 1996, pp. 13-38.

149

Henderson 1994, pp. 216-220. For a study on geomancy in practice and its social implications in Qing China, see Smith 1991, pp. 132, 148-149.

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can speak, his hands can hold things and his feet can walk – and yet he is not able to protect his sons and grandsons or make them rich and noble. Is it then not a delusion to believe that he can do so after death, when his eyes cannot see, his ears cannot hear, his mouth cannot speak, and his hands and feet cannot hold things and walk? And is it not an even greater delusion to believe that someone whose bones have decayed and whose organs and limbs have gone still can communicate [with his descendants] through his vital breath over a distance of tens of li and hundreds of years, and give them misfortune or good luck without failing?” And again he said: “When talking about the fengshui [of a site] geomancers will always tell you where mountain[-chains] are coming from and going to, how sand and water converge and how they encircle each other. In the regions south of the Yangzi river, where there are many mountains, they still can propagate their false tales. But I have passed through regions in Henan and Shandong where the land is all flat and empty wherever one looks, and where vast plains are stretching over a thousand li: what ‘arising dragons’ and what ‘sand and water’ are there to spell good luck and misfortune? And yet there too we find all the different vicissitudes of decline and flourishing, of rise and fall – how can they explain them?”150

Aleni’s arguments target the fallacy of geomancy on both theoretical and practical levels. From the Christian viewpoint, there is a clear distinction between the physical body and the immaterial soul. Though the soul is imperishable after one’s death, it has nothing to do with the fate of one’s descendants in the mortal world. Thus, it would be meaningless to find an auspicious burial site in hope of good fortune. On the other hand, Aleni shows that the popular geomantic practices in the south are not applicable to northern China due to their different landscapes. This argument sounds a bit forced. It may be justified as a criticism targeted against the “Forms and Configurations” (xingshi 形勢) school. Geomancers from this school inspect the flow of qi by way of landscape patterns to select auspicious sites for houses and tombs. However, Aleni does not seem to be familiar with another popular “Directions and Positions” ( fangwei 方 位 ) school, whose geomancers normally use the compass (luopan 羅盤) for fortune-telling without much concern about landscape features.151 To Aleni, the fallacy of geomancy has exerted a negative influence on Chinese social life. In a conversation, a local convert in Yongchun tries to defend the practice of grave-siting as a filial act on behalf of one’s dead parents. Aleni answers with sharp criticism: However, nowadays people do not select a burial site exclusively for their parents’ sake; they only do so in order to obtain good fortune for themselves. As they totally are led astray by the theories of geomancy, they are constantly trying to find out “from where the dragon arises” and “where the arteries [in the 150

KDRC, pp. 52-54; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 214-215.

151

Henderson 1994, pp. 217-218; Smith 1991, pp. 132-148. A comparison of these two schools can also be found in Skinner 1982, pp. 30-51, 79-107.

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earth] come together,” and they believe that as a result after several years or even generations their sons and grandsons will flourish and reach the highest positions by the score. And as long as they do not find a proper site they even may leave their parents’ bodies exposed and unburied year after year. Is that not outrageous?152

Here Aleni is not simply content with criticizing geomancy as superstition. He wants to absorb core Confucian values into the Christian framework. Like other Jesuits in the late Ming, he achieves such a goal by strategically taking an “orthodox” Confucian stance.153 Not only does Aleni reject the use of geomancy for selecting burial caves for dead parents ( yinxue 陰穴), he also opposes it for identifying the housing sites of living people ( yangju 陽居). In fact, many local converts, including Li Jiubiao, still believed that geographic configurations of a region were a factor that determined the number of successful candidates in civil service examinations. Aleni holds a somewhat ambiguous attitude at this issue. 154 However, he denies any connection between the success of a man in the civil service exams and the “blessed” location that he lives in. Li Jiubiao records an interesting episode on this topic in Kouduo richao: On the fifth I met Lin Zizhen when he came out of the inner hall [of the mission house]. I asked him: “What is the master doing?” He answered: “He is just writing a text in refutation of geomancy.” I said: “We have heard what he said about the unreliability of geomancy, but then he only was speaking about the disposal of the dead, and he did not touch upon the sphere of the living. Nowadays there are one or two regions [in Fujian] that produce great numbers of graduates, whereas those coming from elsewhere are as rare as the stars at dawn. I think that it still may be true that those one or two regions are favored by geomantic factors. Why don’t you [go in] and ask him on my behalf ?” Zizhen said: “Yes, I will.” After a while he [came out and] told me: “A moment ago I have submitted your question to the master. He said: ‘I have heard that in late Song and early Ming times the prefectures of Yanping and Jianning, Shaowu and Tingzhou produced the greatest number of graduates, and that in more recent times the balance gradually has shifted to Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. Now the mountains and rivers of Yanping and Jianning have not changed from what they were in the past, nor have those of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou increased in recent times. When one region flourishes, another one is at a low ebb; when one is coming up, another one declines. When you extend this to the whole realm it appears to be like that everywhere. So where are those geomantic factors you are talking about?’”155

152

KDRC, p. 192; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 333-334.

153

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 216.

154

Dudink 1997, pp. 149-153.

155

KDRC, pp. 67-68; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 232.

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The reason that Li does not enter the inner hall to ask Aleni in person is likely due to his recent preparation for the civil exams. Aleni seems to be aware of Li’s vague hope that the kanyu theory might be an aid for him to pass the exams, so he refers to the regional changes in Fujian over time to prove the theory’s falsehood. Whether Li accepted this point or not, he still attended the exams there shortly after.156 Aleni’s criticism of geomancy mentioned by Lin Zhen is likely a prototype for the appendix “Lun kanyu” 論 堪 輿 (Discussion on Geomancy) in his Xifang dawen.157 It also uses a question-and-answer format like the previous parts of the work, but since the discussions mainly focus on Chinese geomancy, this part looks more like a separate piece. Some arguments are similar to the above conversations among Aleni, Li Jiubiao, Huang Benyu, and Lin Zizhen. It is possible that Aleni accumulated the notes of his exchanges with Chinese scholars on geomancy for years and compiled them into one piece later. In this case, the inquirer, being identified as ke 客 (guest), represents a collective Chinese voice in opposition to the critical voice of Aleni, who is identified as yu 余 (“I”). In these dialogic exchanges, Aleni finds a way to clarify the orthodox Catholic view. Concerning the error of the geomancers, he argues: Truly, the geomancers want to deprive the Creator of His power to bestow happiness or misfortune on the world, and they want to abolish the favors given by the sovereign, fathers, teachers, and superiors. If merit gained and a reputation established are to be attributed to geomancy and not to the Lord’s grace, the instruction of fathers and teachers, and the discernment of the sovereign – how enormous an error that is!158

Aleni proposes two overlapping hierarchical systems, one secular and one religious. The worship to the Lord of Heaven is tied in with one’s loyalty and respect to rulers, teachers, and family elders. This superposition of the divine and the secular, as we will see in the next chapter, often appears in the discussions on spiritual and moral learning between Aleni and Chinese scholars in Fujian. In their interpersonal and intercultural exchanges, the Chinese/Western self is not supposed to replace but to negotiate with the other within a dialogic situation.

3.3. In the Name of Gewu qiongli The dialogues on various types of practical knowledge – astronomy, calendar, geography, and meteorology – show how Aleni strategically carried out his kouduo, or oral admonitions, in late Ming Fujian. As Zürcher points out, although the scientific topics take up only a small portion of all categories in Kouduo richao, this does not mean that they are unimportant or negligible. They constitute the initial level of knowledge in Tianxue to prepare oneself for the 156

In the spring of 1631, about a month after the discussion, Li attended the civil service examinations held on the prefectural level. See KDRC, in ARSI, vol. 7, p. 68.

157

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 233.

158

Mish 1964, p. 83.

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deeper level of spiritual and moral learning. If we look at the mode of exchange on those scientific topics between Aleni and local converts rather than the depth or value of contents of their exchanges, we will see that these topics are a significant and inseparable component of Aleni’s mission. Without the examples of this small number of topics and “basic” or “elementary” practical knowledge, it would be difficult to fully understand the mechanism of dialogue in accommodating diverse personal interests and cultural concerns. 159 More importantly, the dynamic exchanges between Aleni and Fujian converts show us the process of creating a public space in which a hybrid Christian–Confucian identity could take shape through negations and adaptations between two different traditions. As we have discussed before, Aleni’s teaching of Western scientific knowledge is highly selective. Most of his arguments are based on a combination of Aristotelian natural philosophy and medieval theology. He introduces the Julian calendar but not the recently endorsed Gregorian calendar. As for the telescope, Aleni consciously ignores its scientific function in astronomical observations. Though there appears to be a strong rapport between his instructions and those of other Jesuits in China, as we can see in the Ming calendar reform and debates on the Four Elements Theory, Aleni makes his own choices to transmit Western scientific knowledge and reinterpret Confucian knowledge for a missionary cause. In this type of dialogic self–other relation, our main concern is how different voices on a certain topic appear and interchange to form a mutual understanding. This approach would be more meaningful than the question on whether Aleni (and the other Jesuits) introduced “outdated” knowledge to China, or whether Aleni’s teachings in Fujian were more profound than those of other Jesuits in the same period. On the other hand, Aleni’s instructions are highly adaptive. We have analyzed a number of cases in which Aleni shows a skillful use of Chinese sources, especially Confucian classics, to reinforce his arguments. The adaptation goes further when he fuses Western practical knowledge with Confucian learning in the concept of gewu qiongli. He also superimposes a hierarchical Catholic world order onto the Chinese imperial social structure. This adaptive approach proved to be effective in his dialogic exchanges with converts and interested scholars in Fujian. The dialogue pattern allows the writer to present diverse voices and to shift in between different voices, thereby going through a process of dialogic hybridization. In the same process, we can also discern how the Fujian converts get involved by expressing both individual and collective voices. Li Jiubiao, for example, on various occasions successfully combines traditional Chinese sources and the Jesuits’ new knowledge to establish his double identity as a Christian convert and a Confucian intellectual. The same double identity is shared among his fellow converts (tongdao zhuyou 同道諸友), and it is affirmed again in their spiritual and moral learning.

159

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 173-175.

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Spiritual and Moral Cultivation of Man Kouduo richao records that, on March 15, 1636, the local converts in Yongchun gathered to discuss the establishment of the Shengmu hui 聖母會 (Association of the Holy Mother, i.e., Sodality of Mary). While reading the statutes, Aleni asked the converts whether they had understood the meaning of the word shanzhong 善 終 (good death). He then delivered a homily on this concept, A good death can make up for the wrong deeds of a lifetime, but good deeds cannot make up for a death that is not good. So you’d better “carefully attend to this end”! How will the end be? It is like a bridge. When man departs from life and goes into death, he passes from this world into that world, and [on that bridge] he always can stumble. How to avoid this? Only by doing some practice beforehand. By practicing walking you can escape from danger; by practicing literary composition you can ensure that your essay will be fine; by practicing learning [how to die] death will lose its terror. Therefore I say: learning the Way of the Lord of Heaven is nothing else but learning how to die.1

The final sentence may sound a bit radical, but it is not difficult to relate to Aleni’s concern about life and death. As discussed earlier, practical knowledge learned through rational investigation plays an important part in the conversations between Aleni and his converts. Here is a vivid example of how they engage in discussion on another more important aspect: spiritual and moral learning. Aleni stressed this aspect already in his Xixue fan. To him, the highest level of the Tianxue 天學 (Learning from Heaven) is the Daoxue 道學 (Learning of the Way), a term originally referring to orthodox Confucian teachings. He adopts it to refer to Catholic theology (douluriya 陡祿日亞, i.e., theologia) and defines it as the study of how to transcend life and death. In his Sanshan lunxue ji, Aleni also states that Christianity focuses on the serious matters of life and death, yet with an approach different from that of Buddhism. The same point is confirmed again in Kouduo richao, with the above episode being only one of many examples. Without doubt, when engaging in discussions on spiritual and moral learning, Aleni and the Fujian converts also make conscious efforts to build a Christian– Confucian identity. They discuss such topics as the hierarchical universe under the supreme authority of the Lord of Heaven, body and soul, human nature, effective ways to examine the mind and cultivate virtues, and right attitudes towards heresies and idols. Late Ming religious syncretism somehow provided them with a relatively open environment to discuss controversial religious and moral concepts. Through these exchanges, Aleni attempts to convince the Chinese audience that his spiritual and moral learning was the remedy for the problems of late Ming social morale. The converts, on the other hand, absorb the 1

KDRC, p. 417; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p.501.

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Tianxue with their own interpretations to rebuild a sense of spiritual and moral integrity. As a result, their dialogic learning in daily life not only enables the interchange of Christian doctrines and Confucian teachings but also facilitates the formation of an accessible path for self-perfection.

4.1. Between Heaven and Hell In their discussions about the practical knowledge of heaven and earth, Aleni and his convert disciples touch the medieval Catholic worldview: a hierarchical universe created by the Lord of Heaven, who resides above the heavens and presides all creatures between Heaven and Hell. In 16th-century Europe, this religious and cosmological representation remained the dominant model despite the new challenges from Protestant reformists.2 But to a man who lived among rivaling religions in late Ming China, this monotheist world-view would be quite novel if not unbearable. So it comes as no surprise that, in Kouduo richao, Aleni not only uses his practical knowledge to argue for the existence of Lord of Heaven above the heavens, but also strove to persuade the doubters of such doctrinal concepts as the Lord’s authority and providence, angels, Heaven and Hell, original sin, and Christ’s incarnation and redemption. 4.1.1. On the Lord of Heaven

In Catholic belief, God has infinite wisdom, divine power, and unconditional goodness. As Creator and supreme authority of a perfect universe, He oversees all things that He creates, from the angels in Heaven to man on earth, and even devils in Hell. The angels are the spiritual guides and guardians, who are destined to join the saved in Heaven to glorify God. Heaven and Hell are created in order to separate the good from the evil upon God’s last judgment. However, as we can see in Kouduo richao, the absolute authority of the Lord of Heaven in governing such a universe often troubles both converts and non-believers in Fujian. In a conversation on August 31, 1632, Li Jiubiao brings forward a question on the Lord of Heaven’s omnipotence: […] I asked the master: “It is said that after the Lord of Heaven had created the angels they all were assigned specific tasks as controllers and guardians. Now being omnipotent, the Lord of Heaven is already capable of doing all things by himself, so why did he need to create angels and to let them execute his orders?” The master said: “The Lord of Heaven has not created the angels in order to relieve his own labor; it just was a matter of relative status. Why? In the human world a ruler only has limited wisdom and capacities, so he has to appoint dukes, counts and all kinds of officials to fill up his deficiencies. But the Creator is omnipotent – how would he need the angels to assist him? He did so because the hierarchical order required a crowd of underlings to do 2

For an overview on medieval scholasticism, see Burkill 1971, pp. 164-196. For an overview on the medieval worldview, see Wildiers 1982, pp. 19-78.

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justice to the venerable status of the one [Lord]. Therefore he created innumerable angels and divided them into nine classes, that they might worship him and wait upon him. You may compare it with a worldly ruler: his exalted position far above his subjects requires the appointment of many people serving him, ranging from the highest ministers at his court to the host of officials, in order to bring out his majesty as a ruler. If he did not do so, he just would be one person standing alone at the top, without anybody to revere him and to wait upon him. How could the majesty of the Son of Heaven then be manifested?”3

It is interesting to note that Aleni uses a rhetorical analogy between the Lord of Heaven and a worldly ruler. If the superiority of the human ruler is only reflected through his inferior subjects, so will be the superiority of the Lord of Heaven through the angels He creates. But unlike a worldly ruler, the Lord of Heaven does not need any help from His subjects in the sense that His power could be limited. Here we see Aleni’s conscious effort to appropriate the imperial mindset of the Chinese to make his argument acceptable. Aleni’s argument seems to echo other Christian dialogues concerning the same subject. Ruggieri in Tianzhu shilu, for example, compares a worldly ruler who governs a country to the Lord of Heaven who creates and controls the universe.4 Diego de Pantoja (Pang Diwo 龐迪我, 1571–1618) in Pangzi yiquan 龐子遺詮 (Notes Left by Master Pang, ca. 1610) presents a scholastic explanation. Omnipotence, he claims, is the innate nature of the Lord, and, “what he desires is also what he does and what he is capable of. All things in the world, large or small, many or few, are formed within His power. Why does He need to work, wait for a [good] time, or rely on materials? Whatever he demands to come into being, it will come into being at once.”5 This argument follows Thomist reasoning, but it sounds too speculative for a Chinese audience.6 In another place, someone asks whether the Lord of Heaven creating the angels to assist His rule may be compared to a secular ruler appointing officials to govern his country. Pantoja gives an answer very similar to Aleni’s. A secular ruler has limited ability and wisdom, but the Lord of Heaven’s power is infinite. For Him, creating the universe is no harder than creating a mosquito or horsefly, and he rules it like sunlight shining on all things. Hence, the angels’ duty is not to relieve His burden, but to testify to His glory and omnipotence.7 In Kouduo richao, the analogy between the divine and the secular is also used by Aleni in another discussion with Yan Zanhua on the Lord of Heaven’s omniscience. Yan asks his master how to prove that the Lord knows the past and future, just as he knows the present. In his reply Aleni compares the Lord of Heaven to a person who stands on a high terrace and overlooks the people 3

KDRC, pp. 235-236; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 370-371.

4

TZSL, p. 16.

5

PZYQ, p. 25.

6

Gilby 1964, vol. 5, pp. 157-167.

7

PZYQ, pp. 195-196.

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passing by. If the person sees clearly who has passed and who is about to come, the Lord of Heaven likewise observes every word and action of a man. More importantly, even what one has not yet said or done is known to the Lord, so everyone should be cautious about their words and deeds.8 Though Yan has little difficulty to understand the analogy, he brings forward a twofold question: Whether God’s omniscience (quanzhi 全知) is the same as predestination (qianding 前定) and whether the two are contrary to man’s free will (zizhuan 自專). It records, [Yan says,] “Don’t we human beings have the power of self-determination? Because of that power even the Lord of Heaven will not force us to do things. It follows that even he does not know our future good and bad deeds. Why? Because these are determined by ourselves. As described by you, his omniscience would seem to imply that all our good and bad deeds are predestined. Are omniscience and predestination not incompatible?” The master said: “That is not correct. I did speak about omniscience, but when did I speak about predestination? Omniscience and predestination indeed are incompatible, but omniscience and self-determination are not. How shall I explain it? Suppose there were two men here with whom I was going to discuss a certain matter the next day. Since I knew for sure that one of them was a good man, I was convinced that he would listen to me, and when [the next day] I spoke to him he indeed listened. I also knew for sure that the other one was not a good man, so I was convinced that he would not listen to me, and when [the next day] I spoke to him he indeed did not listen. You cannot say that I did not know whether they would listen or not, nor can you say that their listening or not listening was not a matter of self-determination [on their part]. So what incompatibility would there be?”9

Predestination, centering on the final destiny of men and angels, has long been one of the most controversial doctrines in Catholic theology. It would be well beyond the scope of this study to present in detail the whole spectrum of diverse views since the beginnings of Christianity, but a summary of the Catholic interpretation should suffice to explain Aleni’s keen concern about this issue. In general, the Catholic Church promoted the Thomist theology, claiming that God shows His providence to bring all men into His glory, a universal salvation in its truest form. Some souls are endowed with special grace that foreordains their salvation, but others are condemned to Hell, as God has foreseen their rejection of the grace endowed to them and ordered punishments for their sins. Indeed, man’s free will is not only the cause of predestination for those who accept God’s grace and promise of afterlife glory, but it is also the cause of reprobation for those who abandon grace and glory.10 Thus, predestination and free will are not mutually exclusive within the framework of Catholic theology. Aleni is correct in distinguishing predestination 8

KDRC, p. 186.

9

Ibid., pp. 187-188; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 329-330.

10

Gilby 1964, vol. 5, pp. 107-121.

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from omniscience, the latter being a necessary condition of the former, but his denial of the contradiction between predestination and free will is rather awkward. The example he gives thereafter, ironically, still follows a Catholic logic: the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of an advisor, the free choice of the good man who accepts his advice, and that of the bad man who refuses it. The example looks quite convincing by itself. Knowing little about the complicated theological reflections about this concept, Yan Zanhua asks no further question. It is the only reference to the term qianding in Kouduo richao. In fact, St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises gives the advice to preach about predestination with caution, possibly due to its controversial nature. 11 Aleni’s reluctance to discuss it any further may also derive from his strategy to adapt to Confucianism and denounce Buddhism, since the former stresses self-cultivation and does not have a place for predestination, while the latter teaches ideas such as cause-and-effect ( yinguo 因 果 ) and reincarnation (saṃsāra), which can be confused with the Catholic concept of predestination. In addition to omnipotence and omniscience, the Lord of Heaven’s omnipresence is also an important aspect that Aleni and his fellow de Mattos would stress in their instructions to the converts. The records in Kouduo richao suggest that this concept has already been accepted by the converts as one of the basic Christian doctrines. But from the point of view of their Jesuit masters, more discussions are still needed to remove possible hesitations and doubts. In the case of de Mattos, he asks the convert Liu Boxiu 劉伯秀 why the Scripture says the Lord of Heaven is in Heaven. Liu answers that the Lord is omnipresent, and by saying this people can honor Him. De Mattos is not satisfied, and he provides a more elaborate explanation with several metaphors: Heaven is the original place where men belong, while the human world is like a hostel for sojourners. Therefore, the saying of “The Lord of Heaven is in Heaven” from the Holy Scripture is to remind people that the Lord is where they belong, just like a traveler being reminded by someone that he has parents at home.12 As to Aleni, he asks the converts in Haikou a provoking question: If the Lord of Heaven is omnipresent, can one say that He is also in Hell? Li Jiubiao is not able to answer, so Aleni says that the Lord can be both in Heaven and Hell. In Heaven, He displays his glory and bliss, while in Hell He displays the severity of His punishments to the devils and wrongdoers. Again, Aleni uses the analogy between the Lord of Heaven and the ruler of a kingdom who can travel both to court and to prison. Interestingly, another convert, Lin Junji 林君及 in turn challenges his master: If the ruler of a kingdom goes to prison, he has to leave the court. Does the omnipresent Lord of Heaven have to do the same? The ruler, Aleni says, is just a human being, but the Lord of Heaven is immeasurable and unbounded and can stay in Heaven, the human world, and Hell at the same 11

Ganss 1992, pp. 135-136.

12

KDRC, pp. 293-394. Dudink has identified Liu Boxiu as Liu Tai 劉薹, see id. 1997, p. 197.

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time. 13 One can easily recognize a catechetical undertone in the above discussions. However, these real dialogues are carried out in a more or less interactive way, thus different from the stereotyped form of artificial dialogues seen in other late Ming catechetical works, for example, da Rocha’s Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng and Zhu Yupu’s Shengjiao yuanliu. Because the Lord of Heaven has almighty power, there should not be any doubt about His creation of the universe. Starting from Ruggieri, the Jesuits had already introduced and discussed this topic in their Chinese works. In Wanwu zhenyuan, Aleni also gives a brief summary of God’s creation of Heaven, earth, Hell, the nine ranks of angels, nine heavens, animals and plants on earth, and the first humans, Adam and Eve.14 However, this general introduction did not fully satisfy his convert disciples in Fujian. Li Jiugong, for example, asked Aleni about God’s creation of humans on the sixth day.15 By comparing Huanyou quan 寰有詮 with Xinjing 信經 (the Creed), another convert Chen Jingming 陳景明 asks Aleni why it took the omnipotent Lord of Heaven, who could create things in a second, six days to complete the creation process.16 These inquiries reflect the sincere concerns of the converts about the credibility of the Christian concept of creation. Early Chinese sources featured numerous creation myths and legends on Chinese ancestors, including Fuxi 伏羲 and Nüwa 女媧, Shennong 神農, and Huangdi 黃帝 (the Yellow Emperor). It is no wonder that the converts at times would mention them in comparison with Aleni’s new version of creation. The discussion below is an example of how the different creation stories in China and the Christian world could be found compatible: On the nineteenth [Huang] Benyu again asked: “When the Lord of Heaven created us human beings, he first created Adam and Eve; they were our first ancestors. But since those two lived near the country of Judea, maybe they only have been the first ancestors of Judea. They did propagate themselves, but only in that one region of the Great West. Our China lies at a distance of several thousands of li from that region. Even you, masters from the West, needed full three years to cross the seas and to arrive here. And in the beginning, before Fu Xi and Shen Nong had been born in China, there were not yet any ships and rudders. Who then has given birth to Fu Xi and Shen Nong? Or could it be that the Lord has created one couple in each of the five continents to be their ancestors? I venture to ask you about this.” The master said: “According to the Holy Scripture of the Creator all people in the world descend from one common ancestor. At the time when he had established heaven and earth and had created Adam and Eve, the whole world was one empty stretch of land. It was only after their offspring had multiplied 13

KDRC, pp. 446-448.

14

WWZY (CCT ZKW ), pp. 203-210. For a comparative analysis of this topic, see Witek 1997, pp. 273-289.

15

KDRC, p. 364.

16

Ibid., p. 433.

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and had grown to great numbers that they started to occupy other regions. Investigation shows that by the time Fu Xi and Shen Nong were ruling in China already more than two thousand years had passed [since the beginning of mankind]. At that time mankind had split up, and only then people came to China, so China only started to be settled by the time of the emperor Fu Xi. You felt some doubt about their crossing the seas at a time when there were no ships and oars, but you also know that the country of Judea and China are situated on the same continent. If they came by the overland route, Judea would be much nearer [to China] than my country is. Thus during the Tang there also have been worthies coming [overland] to China to propagate the Lord’s doctrine – that is one proof of it. And even if you would insist that they must have used ships to cross over [to China], how do you know that no ships have been built during those more than two thousand years preceding the time of Shen Nong? How do you know that Shen Nong’s use of ships had not originated in the West? Before the Chinese became acquainted with the scriptural tradition of the Creator they only knew of Fu Xi and Shen Nong, and they were not yet informed about their origin – hence that question of yours!”17

The dialogue depicts a clear picture of what concerns Huang the most, in relation to the traditional story of China’s origin, and how Aleni uses various types of knowledge to prove the validity of the Christian creation. First, the Holy Scripture is established as the sole authority and its teaching cannot be disputed. Then Aleni integrates the ancient Chinese people into a Christian genealogy and reinforces his migration theory using his geographical knowledge about the location of Judea and its distance to China. Moreover, historical knowledge on Nestorian Christianity in the Tang time, which had been recently proved by the discovery of Nestorian steles in Quanzhou (1619) and in Xi’an (1625), is mentioned for additional support of the synchronization of biblical and Chinese records. Aleni was inspired by the work Pangzi yiquan, in which Pantoja proposes that Fuxi and Shennong could be the descendants of Noah’s three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth.18 Aleni’s reasoning may not sound perfect, but it was very effective in a dialogic exchange in which he blends varied types of knowledge of Tianxue. This synchronization theory was later incorporated into Aleni’s catechism Tianzhu shengjiao sizi jingwen as part of Christian doctrine.19 To establish the Christian concept of creation, Aleni has to face another challenge from Neo-Confucian thought. Late Ming scholars would choose the concept of taiji 太極 (Great Ultimate), to explain the creation of the universe. In Kouduo richao, a local scholar in Zhangzhou quotes exactly the same theory and asks for Aleni’s opinion. The scholar points out that, according to the Yijing, “the Great Ultimate produced the Two Modes,” which to him seems to indicate that 17

KDRC, pp. 194-196; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 335-336.

18

PZYQ, p. 233.

19

TZSJSZJW, pp. 322-323.

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the universe owes its existence to the Great Ultimate. Aleni answers with a scholastic refutation of the Confucian theory. He resorts to the Four Causes theory from Aristotelian natural philosophy and equates the Great Ultimate to the Prime Matter, the fundamental element that forms the physical universe. It is only the material cause among the Four Causes, so it cannot be the same as the Creator who is the efficient cause. Unlike the Lord of Heaven, the Great Ultimate has a beginning: it does not exist by itself, is delimited in the physical world, and is not the root for all things, especially spiritual entities like angels and human souls. Aleni’s argument apparently continues that of Ricci in Tianzhu shiyi.20 Both of them interpret the Neo-Confucian term taiji in a purely material sense. Little wonder Aleni explicitly states in his rebuttal: Now if we look at the explanations of the Great Ultimate given by Confucian scholars it appears that they do not go beyond the two concepts of Principles (li) and Matter (qi); so it seems that what in your country is called the ‘Great Ultimate’ is what in my country is called ‘Prime Matter.’ Prime Matter is nothing more than the material used by the Creator when He made heavenand-earth, so it merely is one of the Four Causes. How could it be considered their Lord, and how could it be sacrificed to and served?21

Though the argument is strong, the record does not indicate whether Zheng agrees with it or not. There remains a discrepancy between the Christian and the Neo-Confucian creation theories. In Kouduo richao, there are also discussions about the justice of the Lord of Heaven in this life and in the afterlife. Since He is the Creator of the universe and the supreme authority and power above all creatures, the Lord must do justice to all with impartial judgment, rewarding the good and punishing the bad. Nonetheless, the converts cannot understand why injustice and inequality still exist in their life, which seems to be contradictory to the master’s idealistic claim. They thus pose a number of questions in this regard: why do misfortunes fall upon both the bad and the good? Why would the Lord of Heaven not only create the rich people but also the poor? Why must the bad receive eternal punishment? Can reward or punishment be transferred from one person to his/her descendants? How does the Lord of Heaven treat those neither good nor bad, or disabled, or who die prematurely? What about the fate of the ancient Chinese sages? Aleni is obliged to answer these inquiries from all available sources. A few key points must be addressed in this respect. First, God’s rewards and punishments can be embodied both in this life and in the afterlife, but in the afterlife they are fulfilled in much greater degree. Second, human standards to distinguish good and bad are not reliable, as people judge others merely based on superficial values. Only the omniscient Lord of Heaven truly knows who is good and who is bad. Third, it is the Lord of Heaven’s order that the good be 20

TCSI, pp. 106-120.

21

KDRC, p. 685; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 386.

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rewarded and the bad be punished in this life, which is similar to what is said in the Confucian classics. Since good people are so few in this world, and even bad people still posses the ability to turn to good, the Lord may allow hardships or misfortunes to good people as a warning or a test. If they overcome all these, good people can eventually ascend to Heaven. On the contrary, wealth and happiness are the Lord’s grace to bad people in order to persuade them to do good. If they keep doing evil things till the end, then the more grace they receive from the Lord in life, the more severe their punishments will be in the afterlife. Lastly, the divine judgments are not transferable from one man to another, or as the Buddhist monks claim, from one life to another. Though every man is contaminated by original sin, it is his own deeds but not original sin that will incur eternal punishment in Hell. These are the key points in Aleni’s explanation of a universal system of justice, which enabled him to tackle Catholic and Confucian moral concerns in syncretic manner. They also support Aleni’s discussion on God’s judgment in Sanshan lunxue ji.22 More importantly, through interactive exchanges Aleni could apply this concept of universal justice to the daily life of local Fujian converts. Other late Ming Christian dialogues, such as Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu, Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi, and Pantoja’s Pangzi yiquan, also discuss God’s justice and the Last Judgment. 23 The discussions recorded in Kouduo richao vividly show us how this doctrine was transferred from theory to experience. This of course does not imply that Aleni managed to settle all controversial issues. The situation in Fujian during the 1630s was highly complicated, as Aleni’s audience consisted not only of converts and sympathetic visitors but also suspicious and xenophobic non-believers. The converts raised questions in order to remove doubts and consolidate spiritual and moral learning, but those hostile non-believers showed little trust in Aleni’s representation of an alien religion. When facing some sensitive issues, for example, the fate of ancient Chinese sages under divine justice, they engaged in another level of paradoxical self–other exchange where different voices confronted each other. 4.1.2. Christ’s Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection

Christological topics also constitute an important part of Kouduo richao. A 17thcentury European might have been accustomed to such ideas as the fall of man and salvation through Christ’s redemption, but a late Ming Chinese would have struggled to understand them. The early Jesuits in China sought to introduce the essential Christological doctrines to the Chinese, as we can see in Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu and Pantoja’s Pangzi yiquan. In his Fujian mission, Aleni also made noticeable achievements in this respect. Not only did he discuss certain key aspects of Christ’s incarnation with Ye Xianggao in the 1620s, but he also published his trilogy in the 1630s presenting full biographical accounts, both 22

SSLXJ, pp. 452-262.

23

TZSL, pp. 16-17; TCSI, pp. 324-328; PZYQ, pp. 134-143.

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textual and visual, of the incarnated Lord of Heaven. 24 He thus had sufficient confidence to discuss Christological topics with his convert disciples and nonChristian scholars in Fujian. On October 3, 1631, Aleni was visited by a scholar surnamed Dai in Fuqing. 25 Kouduo richao records that Dai posed two questions about Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion. First, he wonders whether it may be possible that no one takes charge of Heaven when the Lord of Heaven is incarnated into a man. If the Lord stays in Heaven but another Lord gets incarnated, he argues, there must be two Lords. Dai apparently wants to find out a logical mistake in the Christian concept of incarnation. Aleni does not give him a doctrinal explanation on the Holy Trinity, but he argues instead, What you see in front of those steps, is that not the light of the sun? If I asked you: “Has the sun left the sky to illuminate the earth? Or is there one sun in the sky above, and another one that has come down to shine here?” you surely would answer: “The light of the sun descends upon the earth, but the sun still is in the sky as of old.” Why then do you have doubts about the Lord of Heaven’s Incarnation? Since you say that as a result of the Incarnation the universe was deprived of its Lord, let me give you another comparison. Normally speaking the ruler of a country will govern the state while residing in his capital, from where he exercises his sovereign power over the officials and the people. Now suppose that there is a rebellion in one region, and that the king personally goes down to that place to pacify the rebels. Do you think that, once he has left the capital, the officials and the people of the whole country have been deprived of their sovereign? If even a [mere] worldly ruler does not lose his sovereign power by going down to another region, how could that ever happen to the omnipotent Lord of Heaven who resides everywhere? In my book entitled Discussions on Learning I have said in my answer to His Excellency Ye Wenzhong [葉文忠] (= Ye Xianggao): “While he was in the world below he still was in heaven above; while he ascended to heaven he still did not leave this world.” That is exactly what I mean to say.26

The first analogy Aleni proposes actually targets the second part of Dai’s question: If the sun and sunlight are the same substance in different locations, the Lord in Heaven and the incarnated Lord on earth should also be the same. The reasoning has a heavy flavor of scholasticism. The second analogy, interestingly, 24

Aleni’s trilogy comprises Tianzhu jiangsheng yinyi 天主降生引義 (Introduction on the Incarnation of the Lord of Heaven, 1634/1635), Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe 天主降 生言行紀畧 (Brief Record on the Speeches and Conducts of the Incarnated Lord of Heaven, 1635), and Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie 天主降生出像經解 (Illustrated Explanation on the Incarnation of the Lord of Heaven, 1637). See Chapter Two for more detailed information about these works.

25

Dai is addressed with the title wenxue 文學, which refers to an educational instructor in regional administrative offices. See Hucker 1985, p. 567. Zürcher identifies him as Dai Qifeng 戴起鳳, who came from Fuqing and wrote an anti-Christian essay in the Shengchao poxie ji 聖朝破邪集. See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 297-298.

26

KDRC, pp. 140-141; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 296-297.

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again involves the Chinese imperial mentality. It sounds tenable, because nobody could possibly challenge the authority of a ruler, no matter where he stays or goes. To affirm the validity of his arguments, Aleni wisely refers to his earlier discussion with Ye Xianggao in Sanshan lunxue ji. In it, Ye asks whether the incarnation into a mortal man is a humiliation of the supreme Lord of Heaven. Aleni replies that the Lord of Heaven, invisible but omnipresent, must assume a human body to show himself as the savior of the universe. Then he moves on to talk about the unity of divine nature and human nature in the birth of Jesus, the Western sources on the life of Jesus, and the reasons that Christ could not have been born in a royal family or in a civilized region like the Middle Kingdom.27 As we shall see later, discussions of this type are carried out on both intellectual and ideological levels. Hence, Aleni’s reference to his own work Sanshan lunxue ji serves a twofold purpose. It underlines his social connections with Confucian elite, and also brings this type of discussion to the attention of more scholars from a broader range of social and academic backgrounds. Aleni’s experience and confidence is also revealed when he replies to Dai’s next question. To Dai, it is difficult to understand why the supreme Lord of Heaven was crucified, which to a Chinese is nothing but a humiliating punishment for criminals. Aleni responds with a remarkable comparison between Jesus and Cheng Tang 成湯, the founder of the Shang dynasty, When reading Chinese chronicles I have found that when [the Shang king] Cheng Tang prayed in the mulberry grove, he had cut his hair and broken off his fingernails, and he had wrapped his body in white rushes, offering himself as a sacrificial victim. Now what would bystanders have made of it, when seeing how he with all the majesty of a Son of Heaven was crawling on the ground, substituting himself [for the people] as a sacrificial victim? But Tang decided to forget about his royal dignity because he deeply sympathized with the people. [As you say,] the Lord of Heaven indeed is most venerable; he constantly supervises the people below with awesome majesty. Yet for the sake of all people of past and present he has tempered that awesome majesty, and he has undergone suffering to redeem them. He has done so for my sake, and, in fact, for your sake as well!28

This episode about Tang can be found in many ancient texts. For example, in Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋 (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals), it is recorded that, In the past, after Tang conquered the Xia and put the world aright, there had been a great draught with no harvest for five years. Tang thereupon offered a prayer at Sanglin in which he offered his own body as the pledge, beseeching: ‘If I, the One Man, am guilty, let the punishment not reach the myriad peoples. If the myriad peoples are guilty, let it rest on me, the One Man. Do not let the One Man’s lack of diligence cause the Lord on High and the ghosts and spirits 27

SSLXJ, pp. 482-492.

28

KDRC, pp. 142-143; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 297.

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to harm the lives of the people.’ Thereupon, he cut his hair, put his hands in manacles, and had himself prepared in lieu of the usual animals as the offering in a sacrifice to beseech the blessings of the Lord on High. The people were overjoyed, and the rains came as in a deluge.29

In the Xunzi 荀子, Tang is said to blame himself and the government as the possible causes of the drought. 30 Compared to these early Chinese sources, Aleni’s story notably leaves out a specific detail: praying for rain during a drought. Emphasis is put on the ideal of the rule by a virtuous, benevolent king though, so that the redemption of the incarnated Lord of Heaven for His people’s sake can also be justified respectively. Moreover, Tang’s sacrifice to the Lord on High may serve as additional evidence for Aleni to reaffirm the thesis of the ancient worship of the Christian God in China.31 With such a subtle reinterpretation, Aleni finds a harmony between Chinese records and biblical doctrines, thereby laying the foundation of a dialogic hybridization. The same story was adopted by Lodovico Buglio (Li Leisi 利類思, 1606– 1682) in his apologetic work Budeyi bian 不得已辯 (A Critique of I Cannot Do Otherwise, 1665) to refute the accusations from the anti-Christian scholar Yang Guangxian 楊光先 (1597–1669).32 On June 10, 1637, Aleni is recorded in Kouduo richao engaging in a debate with a local scholar in Yongchun who is surnamed Zhou and has the title of xiaolian 孝廉.33 The debate centers on the concept of incarnation. On the eighteenth the provincial graduate Zhou [Minglu] came round for a visit. He asked: “The meaning of ‘the Lord of Heaven’ definitely is identical with [the Di (‘sovereign’)] of whom Chinese texts say ‘Di is the controlling power of Heaven’ and ‘Gloriously he served Shangdi.’ But if you say that he incarnated himself, I absolutely do not understand what you mean. Saying that the most venerable Lord of Heaven has come down to be born as a man – is that not a profanation? And who has ever seen and confirmed it?” The master said: “Your enlightened question shows that you too know that the Lord of Heaven is the most venerable one. However, he is called ‘most venerable’ because of his glorious majesty, his inexhaustible love, and his omnipotence. That he, who is so supremely venerable, still has deigned to be born in the world of men makes him even more venerable and awesome. What profanation are you talking about? To make a comparison: if all the regions of 29

Here I use Knoblock and Riegel’s translation, except that I have changed the translation of the word Shangdi 上帝 from “Supreme Sovereign” to “Lord on High” to stay consistent with my translations in this book. See Knoblock–Riegel 2000, p. 210.

30

Xunzi jijie, vol. 2, p. 504.

31

On the Christian appropriation of Cheng Tang, see also Roman Malek 2010, pp. 719-752.

32

Budeyi bian (WX), pp. 284-286.

33

When a Confucian student passed the provincial examinations, he earned the title juren 舉 人 (provincial graduate), which was popularly called xiaolian (literally meaning “filial and incorruptible”). See Hucker 1985, pp. 197, 237. Zhou has been identified by Lin Jinshui as Zhou Minglu 周鳴鹿. See Lin Jinshui 1996, p. 192.

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the empire are in turmoil, and the generals and ministers of state are unable to repress [the rebellions], and if then the ruler himself with all the dignity of the ninefold [palace gates] sets out to pacify the realm and to reduce the rebels to submission – in that case would anyone regard that as a profanation? [On the contrary,] it certainly would move people to even greater gratitude. If you ask who has ever seen and confirmed it, [my answer is that] what has been seen or heard about in the East has never been seen or heard about in the West, and what has been seen or heard about in the South has never been seen or heard about in the North. How can you suppose that something does not exist merely because you have never seen it or heard about it? If we did so all along, after entering China I might as well have believed that China’s renowned saints and sages and whatever they have done never existed, simply because so far I never had seen them or heard about them.34

Zhou’s question is twofold. Not only does he doubt the supreme status of the Lord of Heaven who was born as a man, but he also doubts the very existence of such an invisible deity. Aleni skillfully employs rhetorical reasoning in his answer. For the first part, he makes an analogy between the supreme Lord of Heaven and an emperor similar to the aforementioned discussion between him and Dai wenxue. In this case, Aleni focuses on the point that going into a region to pacify the rebels himself is not a mark of humiliation for the emperor. In the second part, Aleni builds up a strong argument by applying Zhou’s own logic to the history of China: what is not seen is not necessarily non-existent. The argument reminds us of another case in Tianzhu shiyi where Ricci adopts the same type of reasoning to oppose the point of a Chinese scholar. According to the latter, the theory of Hell is not reliable, since it is not recorded in the ancient Classics. Ricci starts with a scholastic argument: a book can prove the existence of a fact, but not the non-existence of a fact. Then he argues, In the ancient canonical writings of our Western nations, it is recorded that formerly, when the Lord of Heaven created heaven and earth, he created a man, who was called Adam, and a woman, called Eve, the first ancestors of all people in this world. These canonical writings make no mention, however, of the two emperors Fu Hsi and Shen Nung. We can prove from this that there really were two people called Adam and Eve, but we cannot prove that later there was no Fu Hsi and Shen Nung. If we look at things from the standpoint of the Chinese canonical writings, however, we can prove that in ancient China there were two men called Fu Hsi and Shen Nung, but we cannot prove that our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not exist. If this were not so, would it not be possible to say that the many countries in the West do not exist simply because there is no mention of them in the records which give an account of Yü [of the Hsia dynasty]? Thus, although the books of Confucianism do not argue clearly for the doctrine of Heaven and Hell, one should not for this reason refuse to believe it.35

34

KDRC, pp. 486-487; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 546-547.

35

TCSI, pp. 330-333.

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The use of rhetorical reasoning by Ricci and Aleni not only indicates the training that they had received in Europe, but it also points to an ideological self–other paradox in their dialogic exchanges with the Chinese. Their point of view can be summarized in a simple statement: the Middle Kingdom does not comprise the whole world, and beyond it there are equally civilized countries, especially the West. The fact can soundly prove how the Chinese assertion on the non-existence of God or Adam and Eve may be false due to cultural bias and weak inductive reasoning. The dialogic situation between two equals therefore also conveys an ideological subtext: Christian faith and Chinese knowledge are not contradictory to each other but rather can co-exist side by side. Aleni’s refutation of Sinocentric thinking allows him to represent the Christian other from a legitimate, equal position. The next long part of his answer to Zhou xiaolian turns out to be a sequence of evidence, based on the Western classics, to demonstrate the veracity of Jesus Christ’s life. They include the predictions made by ancient prophets on Jesus’ incarnation, the miraculous conception of the Virgin Mary, the visit of the Magi, Jesus’ discussion with the elders in the temple at twelve, the miracles Jesus worked in his life time, the strange things that happened at his death, as well as his resurrection and ascension.36 All of the above dialogues can be found in Aleni’s trilogy on the incarnated Lord of Heaven. To the Chinese dialogists, whether converts or non-believers, it is a striking shift from the almighty, awe-inspiring, invisible Lord of Heaven to the incarnated Lord Jesus who with His great passion and mercy assumed a human form to save all men. Moreover, the image of Jesus created by Aleni in oral, textual, and visual representations further offers his convert disciples an ideal model to imitate in their spiritual and moral exercises. Through the dialogic exchanges an early Chinese Christological learning took shape in Fujian Catholic communities. In Christology, incarnation is underpinned by the concept of the Holy Trinity. In the first twenty years of their China mission, the Jesuits did not explicitly introduce this concept in works such as Tianzhu shilu and Tianzhu shiyi. 37 Explanations on the Holy Trinity only appeared in catechetical, apologetic, and annotative works by the Jesuits and Chinese converts in the early 17th century.38 In Shengjing yuelu 聖經約錄 (Summary of the Holy Scriptures, ca. 1610), a work based on Doctrina Christiana, the Holy Trinity is introduced by three transliterated Latin words – Badele 罷德肋 (Pater), Feilüe 費畧 (Filius), and 36

KDRC, pp. 487-491; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 547-549.

37

Ruggieri’s original work does not mention the Holy Trinity, but it is explained in a later edition revised by Manuel Dias, Gaspar Ferreira (Fei Qigui 費奇規, 1571–1649), and João Monteiro in a newly added section Tianzhu shengxing zhang 天主聖性章 (Chapter on the Divine Nature of the Lord of Heaven). See Tianzhu shengjiao shilu (WXXB), pp. 802-807. For a comparison of different editions, see A. Chan 2002, pp. 90-101.

38

Ricci’s journal states that Xu Guangqi and Ricci for the first time discussed the Holy Trinity in 1600. Xu only could understand this difficult concept after his dream about three chapels in a temple. See Gallagher 1953, p. 430.

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Sibiliduosanduo 斯彼利多三多 (Spiritus Sanctus) – in the chapter Shi’er yabosiduoluo xingbolu 十二亞玻斯多羅性薄錄 (The Twelve Articles of the Symbolum by the Apostles).39 These three terms can also be found in Vagnone’s Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe 天主教要解略 (Brief Explanations of Essential Doctrines of the Lord of Heaven, 1615). He explains that the Chinese word wei 位 (person) refers to the term bosuoya 伯瑣亞 (persōna) used by the Western scholars. In this case, the first wei is Badele, the second Feilüe, and the third Sibiliduosanduo. Vagnone also gives specific reasons on why the three can unite in one body.40 In addition to the above two works, Pantoja in Pangzi yiquan explains the Father–Son unity and Mary’s virgin birth of Christ by way of the Holy Spirit.41 Da Rocha in his Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng likewise highlights the same key components of the Holy Trinity in the teacher-student catechisms. 42 These accounts formed the foundation for Catholic catechetical literature in late Ming and early Qing China. Interestingly, the early Chinese converts would develop their own understandings of these new concepts. For example, Yang Tingyun in Daiyi pian uses his own words and analogies to describe the nuanced connection between the omnipotent Father, the omniscient Son, and the absolutely good Holy Spirit. The Father gives life, the Son receives life, and the Holy Spirit has love for their union. Their relationship can be compared to the three intelligent endowments of men – memory, understanding, and will; to the circular shape, light, and warmth of the sun; and to the wetness, coldness, and tendency to fall downwards of water.43 Similar arguments can also be found in another apologetic work of Yang, Tian–Shi mingbian, in which he contrasts the Holy Trinity with the Buddhist concept of sanshen 三身 (trikāya, or Three Bodies of Buddha), fashen 法身 (dharmakāya, Body of Essence), baoshen 報身 (saṃbhogakāya, Body of Bliss), and huashen 化身 (nirmānakāya, Body of Transformation), through the three generations of past, present, and future.44 To Yang, though the two concepts look similar at first glance, they are essentially different: sanshen is a Buddhist misunderstanding of the Holy Trinity. His arguments are not at all sophisticated, but we see his conscious efforts to explain the Christian concept in a Chinese

39

Shengjing yuelu, pp. 96-97. This chapter has a more popular Chinese title, Xinjing 信經, literally Scripture of Faith. See TZJY, p. 316. The sound of xin also resembles that of the prefix of the Latin title symbolum.

40

TZJYJL, pp. 180-182; 211-214.

41

PZYQ, pp. 34-59.

42

TZSJQM, pp. 388-389.

43

DYP, pp. 592-598.

44

TSMB, pp. 320-325. For the term sanshen, I use de Bary’s translation. See de Bary 1999, vol. 1, p. 419.

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context and to align it with his Confucian knowledge, thereby paving the way for more discussions between the Jesuits and the Confucian scholars.45 In Aleni’s Fujian mission, as we can see in Kouduo richao, the Holy Trinity also attracts much attention. It seems that converts such as Li Jiubiao and Lin Yijun already knew the basic meaning of this concept, so many conversations are conducted in a catechetical style: the master puts a question to the converts, and then provides further explanations. In one conversation, for example, Aleni first asks the local converts on whether Badele and Feilüe are truly father and son. Lin confirms the proposition while Li clarifies that the two have an instant union, which is different from a human father–son relation. They seem to understand well the essence of the Holy Trinity and tend to explain it by way of empirical reasoning. Aleni agrees to their points, but he further elaborates that the divine Father–Son relation is more genuine than the human father-son relation. In the former case the almighty, highest-good, and infinite Father is completely identical with His almighty, highest-good, and infinite Son, but in the latter case a human father and his son only reflect certain similarities in appearance, voice, and manner. 46 This argument may possibly originate from Yang Tingyun’s apologetic works.47 Through this distinction between the divine and the secular, Aleni gives his convert disciples a metaphorical explanation on the mystical nature of the triune God. When another Jesuit missionary, Bento de Mattos, arrived in Fujian to support Aleni, he also engaged in dialogic exchanges with the local converts. Kouduo richao records two occasions where Aleni discusses the Holy Trinity with the converts. The first takes place on September 3, 1633, among de Mattos, Li Jiubiao, and another convert, Liu Boxiu 劉伯秀. De Mattos first asks Li whether the Holy Spirit can be called the father of Jesus. The question is from the third article in Symbolum on faith in the Virgin Mary’s conception through the Holy Spirit. Li is somehow embarrassed, since he repeats the article without giving a concrete reason. Then de Mattos explains that the Holy Mother’s pure blood coagulated in her womb to become an embryo. This is effected by the Holy Spirit, yet it has nothing to do with fatherhood. The reasoning apparently does not convince Li. He asks why the omnipotent Feilüe (Filius) needs assistance from the Holy Spirit instead of realizing his incarnation by himself. De Mattos replies that the Holy Spirit must perform its spiritual work to help the conception of God’s son by the Holy Mother. Liu Boxiu, a neophyte who has just passed the ceremony of receiving the catechism, joins the discussion with a question on why the most venerable Lord of Heaven should have three persons rather than one.

45

For an analysis of Yang’s explanation of the concept, see Standaert 1988, pp. 124-126. For a criticism on the mutual influences between this theory and traditional Chinese thought, see Li Tiangang 2000, pp. 328-341.

46

KDRC, pp. 237-239; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 372-373.

47

DYP, pp. 292-295; TSMB, pp. 321-324.

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De Mattos compares the Holy Trinity to the Three Faculties of the human soul – memory, understanding, and volition.48 Nonetheless, de Mattos’ arguments do not seem effective enough to convince them. This might have motivated him to ask Li Jiubiao a similar question on October 8, 1633: Why can Badele (Pater), but not Sibiliduosanduo (Spiritus Sanctus), be said to beget the Son? Li’s answer follows the explanation he has learned from Aleni and focuses on the difference between the two terms sheng 生 (beget) and fa 發 (activate), saying that the former is a cause but the latter a response. De Mattos is not totally satisfied, so he elaborates again on the analogy between the Holy Trinity and the Three Faculties by applying it to the process of learning Chinese characters: the memory of the shape of a character gives rise to understanding, but volition is only realized after a pleasant emotion is activated by memory and understanding.49 If compared with Aleni’s, de Mattos’ instructtions sound more theologically focused, and, in addition, he does not often refer to classical Confucian texts and Chinese imperial ideology. Little wonder Li would later ask Aleni why the Jesuit masters apply different methods in their instructions on the same religious rules.50 4.1.3. Universal Hierarchy: From Heaven to Hell

According to orthodox Catholic belief, God’s justice is to be realized when the universe reaches its end and goes through the Last Judgment, in which the elect will ascend to Heaven but the damned will suffer eternal punishment in Hell. A hierarchical religious order is thus established: God stays in Heaven at the top, devils and the damned are in Hell at the bottom, while all others, including humans and animals, are in the middle. As discussed before, this order can also be projected onto Catholic cosmology. The highest heaven, called caelum empyreum, is the seat for God, angels, and the elect ones. Beneath it, the heavens carry stars and planets in sequence. The earth, spherical and at the center of all heavens, is inhabited by human beings and other creatures. Under the surface, the sphere is divided into several layers: limbo for saints who lived before Christ and children who die at a young age; purgatorio for people who die in grace but must expiate their sins before ascending to Heaven; and at the lowest level, inferno for the devils and the damned to face all kinds of punishments and tortures. There is also a Christian hierarchy in the human world, consisting of popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, as well as ordinary devotees. Christendom, or the “kingdom” of all Christians, has its center in Rome and is operated by the religious authorities who are responsible for universal salvation in God’s name. The hierarchical order from Heaven to Hell was introduced by the Jesuits as an important part of their Tianxue. Aleni and his confreres exerted much effort in this respect in their Fujian mission as well. When engaging in discussions with 48

KDRC, pp. 294-296; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 413-415.

49

KDRC, pp. 302-304; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 419-420.

50

KDRC, pp. 562-563; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 597-598.

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the converts on Heaven and Hell, they would adjust their explanations of these concepts to be perceptible and applicable in the Chinese context. For example, in Wanwu zhenyuan Aleni offers a description of God’s creation. Heaven is static, round inside and square outside. The earth, in a round shape yet with a straight and upright nature, has a yongku yu 永苦獄 (Jail for Eternal Torture), a lianzui yu 煉 罪 獄 (Jail for Purging the Sins), and a zanhou yu 暫 候 獄 (Jail for Temporary Detention). Aleni also explains the angels, the Four Elements, and the nine heavens.51 Though Aleni would not allow any supernatural power or secular authority to be equal or superior to the Lord of Heaven, he still tends to compare the Lord of Heaven to a human ruler. This subtle strategy permeates his teachings on a hierarchical universe between Heaven and Hell, which serve to emphasize the authority of the Lord of Heaven. For example, in a dialogue with Li Jiubiao and Lin Yijun on August 28, 1631, Aleni raises a question on the Xinjing (Creed) to challenge his convert disciples: Why did the Lord of Heaven create Heaven and Hell before his creation of man? Since Li and Lin cannot answer, the master presents his own explanation, That the Great Lord created heaven was because he wanted to induce people to strive for [goodness], filled with joy; that he at the same time created hell was because he wanted people to avoid [evil], filled with fear. You may compare it with the founder of a dynasty: he has halls and courts constructed to lodge his officials, but at the same time he also has prisons built to deal with criminals. Does that mean that the ruler is unkind? He simply wants the people clearly to distinguish which way to follow and which way to avoid. If people bring disaster upon themselves by consciously disobeying his orders, what can he do about it?52

We can see an implicit purpose in Aleni’s reasoning, which projects a religious hierarchy onto a secular imperial hierarchy. When Lin suggests that those bewildered people might say that the Lord of Heaven could only control His devotees rather than the non-believers, Aleni is aware of the dangerous implications in Lin’s interpretation of his analogy immediately, so he turns the focus to the absolute control of the Lord of Heaven over the whole world. A man may escape from one family to another, and his master will not be able to control him. Likewise, a man may escape from one country to another, and his ruler will not be able to control him. Yet it is impossible for him to escape from the Lord 51

WWZY, pp. 205-208. Here Aleni reinterprets the Christian idea of Hell in the Chinese context. The second layer of Hell is the Purgatory, which in medieval theology was considered a separate place, not part of Hell. As for the third layer, medieval theologians often divide limbo into the limbus puerorum for children and the limbus patrum for Old Testament saints. However, Wanwu zhenyuan does not mention children in zanhou yu. This obvious omission was criticized by the Dominican Francisco Luján in 1688. See Criveller 1997, pp. 171-172. In other late Ming Christian dialogic works, including da Rocha’s Tianzhu Shengjiao qimeng and Zhu Yupu’s Shengjiao yuanliu, the concept of a four-layer Hell is introduced.

52

KDRC, in ARSI, vol. 7, p. 121; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 276.

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of Heaven, because all territories in the five continents and all humans belong to Him.53 In other words, no human authority is comparable to the Lord of Heaven and no worldly hierarchy can go beyond the universal hierarchy of the Lord’s divine kingdom. Aleni’s argument is not unique in late Ming Jesuit writings. For example, in Tianzhu shiyi Ricci fiercely criticizes the pantheist view that the Lord of Heaven is present in and unified with all things. He consciously merges Catholic theology and classical Confucian teaching, Where in the teachings of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius or in ancient canonical writings of your noble country is there a person who cares to show disrespect to the sovereign or emperor and to insist that he is on an equal footing with him? If an ordinary citizen asserts that he is as noble as the emperor, can he avoid being guilty of a crime? If people in this world are not permitted recklessly to compare themselves with the kings of this world, how can they regard themselves as being the same as the Heavenly Sovereign on High? Among themselves people say, “You are you and I am myself”; but now an insect in a ditch says to the Sovereign, “You are I and I am you.” Shouldn’t this be considered utmost disobedience and disloyalty?54

Here Ricci applies deductive reasoning to prove his point: The authority of a human ruler should not be offended. The Lord of Heaven is superior to a human ruler. Therefore, the authority of the Lord should not be offended by anyone either. With this rhetorical device, Ricci refutes the established Chinese concept of great equality among all things, which has been further promoted in Song– Ming Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism. In his Xingxue cushu, Aleni also opposes the idea that every man is an embodiment of the Creator and of one substance with Him. He writes, If the Creator’s body can be divided without any reduction, after the division each man will be identical with the Creator. And so man even becomes a Great Lord of heaven and earth. Yet if man can be the omnipotent, omniscient, and inclusively virtuous one, how come there are still foolish, incapable, and even evil ones with no good?55

The idea Aleni attacks may be derived from Zhu Xi’s theory of liyi fenshu 理一 分殊, i.e., one principle embodied in many. Like Ricci, Aleni considers tian (Heaven) in ancient Confucian classics as the name for God, now called Tianzhu, or the Lord of Heaven, in the Tianxue. The Lord of Heaven shall be respected and worshiped as the master of all things between heaven and earth, but not as a mystical force inside them (like taiji, li and qi, or the Buddha nature) or some idol (like Buddha or the Jade Emperor). In this case, it is Chinese political philosophy, rather than Catholic scholastic knowledge, that both Ricci and Aleni 53

KDRC, pp. 121-122.

54

TCSI, pp. 202-204. I modified Lancashire’s and Hu’s translation of the last sentence, “Is this not to carry opposition to the truth to the utmost limit,” as the original Chinese text rather suggests a capital offense specifically to God.

55

XXCS, pp. 124-125.

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adopt for their argumentation. The result of this self–other exchange is a fusion of secular and spiritual domains, comparable to the one they make between Aristotelian natural philosophy and classical Confucian thought. In this hierarchical universe, bliss in Heaven is often contrasted with suffering in Hell. In a conversation with Yan Zanhua, Aleni explains that the souls in Heaven are filled with unlimited bliss and joy, and they will not be affected by such human emotions as worry or sorrow about one’s parents who suffer eternal tortures in Hell.56 On another occasion, responding to the doubts of Lai Shizhang 賴士章, a scholar in Jianyang, on how an immaterial soul can possibly suffer in Hell, Aleni presents a detailed explanation of two theories. First, fire in Hell is not the same as the earthly fire people can perceive. The Lord of Heaven gives it a blazing heat that can burn out both material things and formless things. Hence, devils and human souls cannot escape this physical punishment. Second, suffering in Hell may be purely spiritual rather than material, and the pain is more agonizing than bodily sufferings. Moreover, the devils can punish the souls with innumerable tortures, and the agony from these tortures is utterly beyond words.57 This point has been made in other Jesuit works, for example, Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu.58 The two extremes in this hierarchical order are presented in stark contrast, so that a convert can easily choose between a place to end up with bliss and joy instead of another with fear and suffering. Kouduo richao presents the converts raising many other questions about the universal hierarchy. For example, in a discussion dated June 11, 1637, Aleni and the Yongchun convert Yan Weisheng 顏維聖 talk about the number of souls in Heaven and Hell and the criteria for ascension to Heaven. After Aleni asks Yan to put a picture of the Last Judgment on the wall, Yan takes the chance to ask whether more people will ascend to Heaven or more will fall into Hell. Aleni does not give a straight answer. Instead he invites Yan to consider it by himself. Yan first states his own guess that an equal number of people go to Heaven and to Hell. Then he mentions Zhang Geng’s estimate that those in Hell are greater in number than those in Heaven. Aleni considers both answers acceptable, but he meanwhile indicates that these are personal conjectures. No one knows the exact numbers except for the Lord of Heaven, and he could only wish that the Lord blesses more souls to enter Heaven.59 The answer may be based on a medieval scholastic view, as can be seen in Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae.60 However, Aleni

56

KDRC, pp. 183-184.

57

Ibid., pp. 332-334.

58

For one early Jesuit introduction of the fourteen tortures in Hell, see TZSL, pp. 49-50. For more discussions on the images of Heaven and Hell presented by Aleni and Rudomina, see Chapter 5.2.1.

59

KDRC, pp. 501-503.

60

See Gilby 1964, vol. 5, pp. 133-138. Here I quote the English translation of a passage for close comparison (p. 137): “About the actual figure of those predestined, some reckon that as many men will be saved as angels fell; others that as many as remained among the

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does not apply Aquinas’ reasoning to develop complex arguments and counterarguments. He probably wants to leave certain room for the converts to express their own voices, insofar as their interpretations can still be aligned with the hierarchical order of a Catholic universe. The second topic that Aleni and Yan Weisheng discuss is more intriguing, for it involves the treatments of the saints in the past and sages in ancient China. The dialogue runs as follows: The next day Erxuan 爾宣 (= Yan Weisheng) asked again: “Lately when reading the Lives of the Saints (Shengren xingshi) I noticed that they have ascended to the Kingdom of Heaven only after having performed many meritorious deeds and after having gone through much suffering and toil. Yesterday you told me that if there are many believers, many also will ascend to heaven. But can they decide to do so, just like that, without [sufficient] merit?” The master said: “That is not true. If one is free from mortal sin one may hope to ascend to heaven. Any believer may expect to ascend to the Kingdom of Heaven, provided that he has observed the Commandments all his life and that he is well-prepared when about to die. In the case of saints, the more merit they have earned by their deeds, the higher their position [in heaven] will be. As there are nine ranks of angles, saints can be associated [with any of these] in accordance with their virtues. You may compare it with officials appointed to serve at the court: there is the Chancellor, there are the Six Ministers, and there are the hundred officials and the host of clerks. Each of them has been charged with a specific task, and although there are differences as to rank and importance, they all belong to one single court hierarchy.”61

We have already discussed the biography of St. Ignatius in Vagnone’s Shengren xingshi. It seems that the biographical accounts of shengren, meaning “saints” in a Christian sense and “sages” in a Chinese sense, were used as exempla to inspire the converts to live a perfect spiritual and moral life. Yan implies that the meritorious deeds of Christian and Confucian shengren are difficult to follow, if an ordinary devotee desires to ascend to Heaven like them. For obvious reasons, his master does not agree with him in this point. In his response Aleni again resorts to a comparison between the saints/sages ranked by the Lord of Heaven in a universal hierarchy according to their virtues and the officials appointed by a Chinese emperor in the imperial court. As a matter of fact, hagiography was a genre that gained increasing popularity in late Ming Christian literature. In addition to Vagnone’s Shengren xingshi, we can find such shengren stories in several other works, including Pantoja’s Qike 七克 (Seven Overcomings, 1614) and Rho’s Aijin xingquan 哀矜行詮 (Explanaangels; others that as many as angels fell plus as many as angels were created. However, the matter is better left undecided, for, in the words of a collect, God alone knows the number of the elect to be raised to high happiness.” Aquinas seems to suggest that the damned are pre-ordained by God in a fixed number, but he does not further develop this train of thought. 61

KDRC, pp. 503-504; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 558.

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tory Notes on the Fourteen Works of Mercy, 1633). The Jesuit writings further inspired some Chinese converts to compile their own hagiographical accounts, for example, Li Jiugong’s Lixiu yijian. Hence, one may not be surprised to find numerous records in Kouduo richao of Aleni telling the stories or quoting the sayings of Christian saints both from the Bible and from Church history, such as Moses, St. John (the Baptist), St. Paul, and St. Ignatius, etc. It is interesting to note that the Jesuits’ promotion of this genre matched the long-standing Chinese tradition in biographical writings, which consisted of a large body of narratives on Confucian sages, Buddhist masters, and Daoist immortals. The Jesuits attempted to link the exemplar works of the Catholic saints with Confucian models, but on the other hand, they would highlight the special qualities of the Catholic saints (e.g., self-torture, martyrdom, chastity, and miraculous power) in order to point out the different Western concept of sainthood.62 Such a twofold introduction, as one may anticipate, facilitated the emergence of a Christian– Confucian saint/sage tradition in late Ming China. Despite the Jesuits’ adaptation to the Chinese context, the fate of the ancient Chinese sages in a universal hierarchy remained a sensitive issue. As recorded in Kouduo richao, when Li Jiugong asks this question, Aleni only gives a vague answer: the Lord of Heaven would assign the Chinese sages to a peaceful place due to their sincere compliance with His commandments, even though they did not know about the Christian doctrines during their life time. 63 In Wanwu zhenyuan, Aleni explicitly states that the ancient Chinese sages are found in the zanhou yu 暫候獄 (Jail for Temporary Detention), where “there is absolutely no suffering and worry, but rather peace and joy.” The place can accommodate the virtuous people who lived before Christ. Since the incarnated Lord saved them and lifted them to Heaven, it has by now become an “empty jail.”64 However, even such a mild solution still aroused uneasiness, or even anger, among the hostile scholars and Buddhist laymen in Fujian. Huang Zhen once raised a question on the fate of King Wen (of the Zhou dynasty) to challenge Aleni. In Huang’s view, to claim that King Wen would have been cast to Hell was an unbearable insult to this respectful sage-king, and by extension a great humiliation of Chinese culture. This negative impression motivated him to engage in more radical activities in order to eliminate the Jesuits and their “barbarian religion” in China. Another leading anti-Christian scholar, Xu Dashou 許大受, was also angered by Aleni’s claim that Fuxi, Yao and Shun, as well as Confucius had been consigned to Hell or purgatory (lianqing diyu 煉清地獄) due to their disbelief. Xu was the second son of Xu Fuyuan 許孚遠 (1535–1604), a reputed Neo-Confucian scholar in the late Ming. His main arguments focused on how the Jesuits degraded and slandered the Confucian teachings, such as tian (Heaven),

62

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 132-135.

63

KDRC, p. 242

64

WWZY, p. 206.

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human nature, moral relations, and ancestor worship. 65 Though Aleni and his fellow Jesuits tried to reconcile the Catholic universal hierarchy and the Chinese Sinocentric mindset in various ways, those hostile scholars like Huang and Xu would still consider them “deceitful barbarians” ( jiaoyi 狡夷) who spread “evil sayings” (xieshuo 邪說) among the Chinese.66 The place of the fallen angels in the universal hierarchy was another challenging subject. In Kouduo richao, Aleni talks about the angels (tianshen 天 神) in a positive way, describing them as messengers and servants of the Lord of Heaven. But occasionally he also explains to the converts the punishments of the fallen angels, a common subject in medieval theology. When Yan Zanhua asks why the angels should be condemned forever at the slightest thought of sin, Aleni answers, “The Lord of Heaven has ranked the nine classes of angels far above all the other species; yet they rebelled, forgetting their origin, and recklessly planned their act of usurpation.” 67 On another occasion, he makes a similar point. 68 According to his reasoning, the angels fell because they violated the hierarchical order set by the Lord of Heaven. Endowed with a pure nature and great talents, they had the free will to choose between good and evil. Unfortunately, due to arrogance they decide to rebel and challenge the Lord’s authority, thereby turning themselves into demons. Their sin was more serious than a human sin, and as a natural result, they had to suffer the most severe eternal punishment. Even if the converts accepted Aleni’s explanation on the bad example of the fallen angels, a suspicious Confucian scholar would still find it very difficult to understand. This may be the reason of Aleni’s debate with Xu Dashou in 1623. According to Xu, Aleni explained the origin of the devils to him: After the Lord of Heaven created the universe, He immediately created thirtysix spirits. The first grand deity is Luqifu’er 輅齊弗兒 (i.e., Lucifer), the ancestor of Buddhism, who claimed that he had the same wisdom as the Lord of Heaven. The Lord was angered, so He drove him to Hell where he became Yanluo Wang 閻羅王 (Yama).69

If Xu’s account is faithful to Aleni’s original words, the explanation sounds rather unusual. By directly referring to Lucifer as Yanluo Wang, Aleni actually breaks the normally strict dividing line between Catholic theology and Chinese Buddhism. The early Jesuits, such as Ruggieri and Ricci, introduced Lucifer as the archangel who led a revolt against the Lord of Heaven and later received eternal

65

Shengchao zuopi, pp. 189-240. For Xu Fuyuan’s role in late Ming Confucian learning, see Peterson 1998a, pp. 743-744. For a brief biographical account on Xu Dashou, see Dudink 1993a, pp. 107-109.

66

Gernet 1982, pp. 238-241.

67

KDRC, pp. 180-181; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 325.

68

KDRC, pp. 392-393.

69

Shengchao zuopi, p. 203.

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punishment, but they did not make a direct cross-religious reference.70 Neither did Pantoja when he discussed angels and devils in Pangzi yiquan. 71 Aleni’s argument, as given by Xu Dashou, may have faced two possible risks: First, Yanluo Wang is regarded as the god of justice in the nether world who can reward or punish the spirits of the dead according to their deeds in this life, but Lucifer does not have such a positive role; second, if Lucifer as Yanluo Wang is powerful enough to determine the afterlife, then he could be considered a God in Hell comparable to the Christian God in Heaven. Moreover, the case gives Xu a chance to argue that the Lord of Heaven should be the origin of all sins, because even the angels created by him dare to disobey His authority and disturb the universal order.72 No matter how Aleni defends his point, it seems difficult for him to convince the suspicious non-believers to accept his model of a perfect universal hierarchy under the Lord of Heaven. 4.1.4. The Holy Mother: Mediatrix and Protector

In a hierarchical universe created by the Lord of Heaven, the Virgin Mary, frequently called Shengmu 聖 母 (the Holy Mother) and Maliya 瑪 利 亞 by Chinese converts, plays a key role. According to Catholic theology, she is considered one of the patron saints of the faithful in their spiritual journey towards a universal salvation. Having been affirmed with the special status of Theotokos (God-bearer, i.e., Mother of God) since the fifth century, she was elevated to the role of mediatrix between God and man. She could pray for God’s grace and forgiveness on behalf of all sinners. Due to her compassion and virtues, she was also endowed with great power to protect the faithful from various dangers, sufferings, and disasters. These beliefs stimulated popular Marian devotion that took organized shape during the late Middle Ages. 73 Between the 13th and the 15th centuries, there emerged a phenomenal growth of Marian culture across Western Europe. The key Mariological doctrines, including Immaculate Conception and Assumption, continued to be debated among theologians. On the popular end, however, the burgeoning Marian cults were found in many regions to win strong support among the laity as well as the church authorities. Not only did Marian icons and miracles attract many worshippers, but Marian sanctuaries (e.g., the one at Loreto) also became pilgrimage centers for devotional purposes.74 As it turned out, Marian devotion went beyond Europe as part of the worldwide expansion of Catholic missions. In imperial China, for example, the Franciscan missionaries may have endeavored to introduce some Marian icons after they set a foothold in the Mongol Yuan 70

TZSL, pp. 32-34; TCSI, p. 204.

71

PZYQ, pp. 191-219. The revolt of Lucifer is explained on pp. 202-203.

72

Shengchao zuopi, p. 203.

73

“Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary,” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15459a.htm. (accessed March 12, 2018)

74

Vauchez 2009, pp. 336-339.

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Empire. 75 The Dominicans established the Province of the Holy Rosary in the East in 1586, and they enthusiastically promoted different forms of Marian devotion in the Philippines, Japan, and Taiwan.76 Starting with the founders to the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits were also fervent advocates of Marian devotion. Many of them, including Ricci and Aleni, became active members of Marian sodalities. 77 While taking part in the CounterReformation movement, they defended Mary on doctrinal and liturgical grounds against Protestant criticism. In the China mission, they launched a systematic introduction of Marian dogmas and images along with their Tianxue. Ruggieri first introduces the fundamental concept the virgin birth of Christ by Mary in his Tianzhu shilu. He also made the first Chinese translation of the Ave Maria. This prayer, later revised under the title Shengmu jing 聖母經, became one of the most popular Marian texts through the 17th and the following centuries. The Jesuits continued to publish a series of other Marian texts in the late Ming period, including da Rocha’s Song nianzhu guicheng 誦念珠規程 (Rules for Reciting the Rosary, ca. 1619), Vagnone’s Shengmu xingshi 聖母 行實 (Life of the Holy Mother, 1629), and Rho’s Shengmu jing jie 聖母經解 (Exegesis of Ave Maria, 1632). These texts were widely circulated in early Chinese Catholic communities, and they served various needs of missionaries and converts – catechetical, biographical, and theological.78 In the meantime, early Chinese Marian devotion took organized forms. The first Marian sodality was founded in Beijing in 1609 by a certain scholar official called the Christian name Luke. Luke had been a Buddhist layman with several concubines. He abandoned all this upon his conversion to the newly introduced Christian religion. According to an early Qing Chinese source, the association was called Shengmu lingbao hui 聖母領報會 (Sodality of Mary’s Annunciation), largely based on the model of the Jesuits’ arch-sodality or Prima Primaria in Rome. The Sodality, under the approval and guidance of Ricci, focused on liturgical practices and charity works. 79 In the next year, two similar Marian sodalities were established in Nanjing and Shanghai. Following these successful early models, many new Marian associations emerged in China’s coast and inland regions.80 75

Arnold 2005, pp. 227-238. For a survey of the early introduction of Marian devotion to China from the Tang to the Yuan periods, see Dai Guoqing 2014, pp. 101-113.

76

For a history of the Dominican Province of the Holy Rosary, see Aduarte 1905; Dai Guoqing 2014, pp. 101-113. For early Marian iconography in Japan, see Makakuwa 2009, pp. 228-252.

77

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 127.

78

For recent studies on the first two works, Song nianzhu guicheng and Shengmu xingshi, see Li Sher-Shiueh 2009, pp. 53-110; Dai Guoqing 2010, pp. 57-63; Qu Yi 2012; Clarke 2013, pp. 42-45.

79

The episode is recorded in Xu Wending gong shishi 徐文定公事實 (Biography of Mr. Xu Wending), in CCT ZKW S., vol. 16, p. 607.

80

HCC 1, pp. 456-457; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 127; Clarke 2013, pp. 40-42.

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It is not surprising that Aleni exerted himself in promoting Marian devotions in Fujian. The founding of the Shengmu hui in Yongchun in 1636, as has been mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, may be one of the earliest Marian associations in his Fujian mission.81 He also played a part in promoting popular Marian prayers, especially the Rosary. In 1637, the year of the publication of his Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, Aleni had another work published under the title Shengmu meigui jing shiwu duan tuxiang. It was small in size, containing a set of fifteen print illustrations apparently duplicated from the former work, followed by fifteen poetic songs composed by Zhang Geng.82 Given the specified publication date in the spring of 1637, it could be possible that Aleni collaborated with Zhang to compile this work during his four-month stay in Quanzhou in that year. This Chinese version of the Rosary is arranged according to the same group of fifteen scenes as those in da Rocha’s Song nianzhu guicheng. As will be discussed in the following chapter, the scenes in these two versions should be Chinese reproductions of Jerónimo Nadal’s Evangelicae Historiae Imagines, and they mainly serve to aid one’s memory and meditation on the fifteen mysteries in Mary’s life.83 Despite noticeable differences in layout and artistic representation, the fifteen scenes in both versions are divided into the same three parts: five scenes on the joyful mysteries, five scenes on the sorrowful mysteries, and five scenes on the glorious mysteries. The brief introductory passage in Aleni’s version mentions an interesting analogy between the three parts of the Rosary and the three parts of a rose – leaves, thorns, and flowers, which rather sounds like Aleni’s own interpretation. However, the passage following the list of fifteen titles should have been added by Zhang Geng. He explains that the reason for printing these scenes is to assist his fellow converts to visualize the important episodes in Jesus’ and Mary’s lives and apply them to prayers as well as contemplations. Thus, this simplified version of the Rosary was certainly intended for the need of Chinese converts to worship of the Holy Mother more conveniently. The records in Kouduo richao also help us to better understand better on how Marian devotion gradually took root by way of dialogic learning between Aleni 81

According to the Western sources, Aleni’s first attempt to openly promote Marian devotion was made in 1635 at Quanzhou, where he established a Congregacão de Nossa Senhora. A few more Marian cults were founded around 1636 in Yongchun, Fuzhou, and Haikou. See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 129-130.

82

A unique woodblock print copy of Shengmu meigui jing shiwu duan tuxiang (Catalogue No.: D 202) is now held in the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. It should be a copy or at least a reprint of the original 1637 edition. However, in Ye Nong’s modern collection of Aleni’s complete works, he uses a much later edition dated in 1869. The selection is an obvious mistake in claiming that the work is based on Aleni’s Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jixiang, because the images and the illustrations in the 1869 edition are totally different from the original edition. See Ye Nong 2011, vol. 2, pp. 157-167.

83

For further analysis on this, see Chapter 5.2.2.

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and his convert disciples. At one gathering in 1636, a group of local converts in Haikou discuss their plan to found a Shengmu hui. This gives Aleni an opportunity to preach on the role of mediatrix and the great compassion of the Holy Mother. He says: The grace bestowed by the Holy Mother always exceeded human expectations, for although the grace basically comes from the Supreme Lord, it is asked for through the Holy Mother’s intercession. Therefore it often happens that one obtains things without having prayed for them – let alone those who worship her all the time. It is certain that they will reach the fulfillment [of their wishes] due to her aid and protection.84

To support this view, Aleni tells an allegorical story of St. Dominic who dreamed of two ladders, one red and the other white, which led to Heaven. The red ladder appeared to be difficult to climb, and many stumbled and fell on their way. It turned out that Lord Jesus was awaiting them at the top. In contrast, everybody could reach the top of the white ladder without stumbling, since the Holy Mother was there to help them and pull them up. Aleni’s message embedded in this story is quite clear: people may not win the Lord’s approval without strictly observing the commandments, but they can always get accepted by the Holy Mother, the loving mother of all people, and ask her to intercede between them and the Lord of Heaven. While the Lord can be seen as a stern father, the Holy Mother is like an earthly mother: caring, affectionate, and responsive. On another occasion when the Annunciation is celebrated, Aleni puts further emphasis on the Holy Mother’s affection to Lord Jesus during and after the incarnation. If the devotees want to serve the Holy Mother, they should love what she loved and cherish what she cherished. This, in Aleni’s eyes, should be the right way to serve both her and the Lord.85 Not only does the Holy Mother show her great compassion to all people, she also has great power to protect them from danger. On August 15, 1639, the day to celebrate the ascension of the Holy Mother to Heaven, Aleni claims that the popular work Shengmu xingshi only records a fairly small part of the miraculous deeds of the Holy Mother in saving people. He then tells the converts two stories of his personal witness. The first is about a simple-minded man in the West who knew nothing else but reciting the words “Jesus, Mary.” One day, when he was about to drown in a river, he called upon the Holy Mother and suddenly reached the other shore safely. The other story is about his confrere Francesco Sambiasi (1582–1649), who joined a sodality and worshipped the Holy Mother devoutly. One night on his way to a distant place, his horse stumbled and fell into a deep pit. It seemed that he could do nothing except to wait for certain death. But when he called upon the Holy Mother, the horse suddenly jumped out of the pit and he could move on to the hostel. When he had fallen into the pit, his right hand was injured so he could not move it. Then an old man came into the hostel and lifted up Sambiasi’s injured hand and turned it around. Immediately it was as good as it 84

KDRC, p. 444; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 520.

85

KDRC, pp. 464-465.

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had been before. When Sambiasi stood up to thank him, the old man disappeared. It must have been the Holy Mother who saved Sambiasi and cured his hand. In Kouduo richao, Aleni and his convert disciples also discuss the exemplary virtues of the Holy Mother. In 1640, on the day celebrate the Virgin Mary’s visit to her cousin Isabel, they engage in a fairly long discussion. After Aleni explains the main theme of the Visitation, he asks the converts to reflect on the story and tell him their opinions. The converts, very likely devotees from the Shengmu hui, answer with a litany of virtues of the Virgin Mary: chastity, love, diligence, and modesty, faith, dedication, and altruism.86 These exchanges clearly indicate that the Holy Mother was regarded by the converts as a perfect model in spiritual and moral progress. Despite the growing popularity of Marian devotion in the late Ming period, the Jesuits had to promote a model image of Mary in competition with Guanyin 觀音 (Avalokiteśvara), one of the most influential Buddhist deities in China.87 By the 17th century Guanyin has already been transformed from a male-looking Indian bodhisattva (though originally supposed to be asexual) to a hugely popular Chinese goddess, who was often depicted as wearing a white robe or holding a child in her arms.88 The name Guanyin or Guanshiyin 觀世音 means “the one who listens to the sounds of the world.” It clearly points to her unconditional compassion to save every sentient being who calls upon her help in times of disease, danger, or misfortune. Matteo Ricci in his journal records an interesting episode about the competition between the Holy Mother and Guanyin in terms of their child-giving power: Another convert one day told the Father (i.e., Nicolò Longobardo) how he threw away all idols in his house, except one saved by his wife because of her reluctance. It was a statue of Guanyin (Coima). They said that Guanyin was the daughter of a king in China. She would not get married for her entire life, and Chinese women at the time of childbirth could rely on her protection. Since his wife was about to go into labor and she had suffered from dystocia in the past, she would not remove the statue of Guanyin. The convert asked the Father to suggest an expedient. The Father made it clear that Guanyin could not provide any help. Since she had not helped in his wife’s past childbirth, he should teach his wife to venerate another virgin, Our Lady, who had given birth without pain to her blessed son Jesus. The Father thus gave him a picture of the Holy Mother to replace the Guanyin statue, and asked him to teach his wife to chant every day seven times Pater Noster (Our Father) and Ave Maria (Hail Mary) in the way that the Christians celebrate the Seven Sorrows. The convert did what the Father said and persuaded his wife to concede. Upon the time of delivery she had no difficulty and gave birth to a son. The day was

86

KDRC, pp. 587-593.

87

Song Gang 2008, pp. 101-120.

88

Yü Chün-fang 2001, p. 294.

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exactly a day of the presentation of Jesus by Our Lady. As a result, the whole family converted because of Our Lady.89

The name Coima in the Latin translation of Ricci’s original journal in Italian does not resemble the sound of Guanyin, but it certainly refers to Nanhai Guanyin 南 海觀音 (Guanyin of the South Sea) in the popular legend of Princess Miaoshan 妙 善 . She was a daughter of King Miaozhuang 妙 莊 in the Xinglin 興 林 Kingdom, and as a devout Buddhist she denounced marriage to retain a pure body and mind. Later she not only saved the spirits of the underworld but also cured her dying father using her eyes and flesh as remedy, and at the end she showed herself as a metamorphosis of the compassionate bodhisattva Guanyin. 90 This hybrid Miaoshan–Guanyin image became so popular in late Ming times that the Spanish Augustinian friar Martín de Rada (1533–1578) noted that among the “saints” whom the Chinese worshiped “a woman called Quanyin (i.e., Guanyin)” was honored the most.91 No wonder the convert’s wife would not put away this Buddhist icon, whom she believed to have protective power and serve as a model of womanhood. Interestingly, in Ricci’s account, Guanyin failed to protect women in childbirth. The Holy Mother replaces her by securing a smooth delivery of a boy for the family, and her power and exemplary motherhood are naturally derived from the miraculous birth of her son Jesus Christ, the incarnated Lord of Heaven. In his Daiyi pian, Yang Tingyun attempts to clarify doubts regarding the Virgin Mary. After a detailed explanation of the miraculous conception and virgin birth of Jesus, he concludes: “As to a comparison of the Holy Mother to Guanshiyin in popular belief, the latter is surely not equivalent to the former.”92 Yang’s cautious distinction indicates his worry about the likelihood of confusing these two religious icons. Indeed, the Virgin Mary was introduced at a time when Guanyin reinforced the goddess tradition in China and gained great popularity as the savior of the world. Worship of this feminized and indigenized deity set a favorable context for propagating the worship of the Virgin Mary, who like Guanyin served as an intercessor between the divine and the human worlds. The Jesuits themselves were also aware of the confusion of the two icons especially among Chinese commoners, so they launched a similar effort to promote the Holy Mother in competition with Guanyin in such key characteristics as compassion, love, chastity or virginity, protection, and child-giving power. As a result, the Marian devotion through competition with and appropriation of native religions offered an alternative means for the Chinese to enter a hierarchical Christian universe. 89

D’Elia 1942, vol. 2, pp. 200-201. I have translated the text from Italian to English.

90

This work may be connected with another late Ming religious work, Xiangshan baojuan 香 山寶卷 (Precious Scroll of Xiangshan), which originates from a certain stele version made during the Song time. See Yü Chün-fang 2001, pp. 298-301, 438-441; Dudbridge 1978, pp. 10-20, 51-58.

91

Dudbridge 1978, p. 7.

92

DYP, p. 592.

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From the above analysis, we find a few noticeable features in the dialogic construction of the doctrinal foundation in Fujian Catholic communities. While promoting and defending some essential theological concepts, Aleni shows his strategic adaptation to Chinese imperial ideology through analogies between the Lord of Heaven and a human ruler, or between Christ and Cheng Tang. He also uses many Western and Chinese sources – scriptural, scientific, historical, or pictorial – to support his arguments. Following Ricci’s earlier approach, he takes the stance of a classical Confucian to attack the Neo-Confucian concepts. As we have seen, the Fujian converts also take active part in the discussion with their Jesuit masters on the important topics of the authority of the Lord of Heaven, Jesus as the incarnated Lord, and the role of the Holy Mother as mediatrix in the universal hierarchy between Heaven and Hell. They show sincere efforts in trying to understand the still unfamiliar Christian world order. More importantly, they often have the opportunity to voice their own viewpoints, to which their Jesuit masters make corrections and offer further explanations. A hierarchical universe featuring both Christian and Chinese components thus takes shape in such dialogic exchanges.

4.2. Questions on Man Human beings take a special position in the universal hierarchy created by the Lord of Heaven. But why would the Lord continue to show His love and grace to them despite their arrogance and disobedience? What are the essential aspects and functions of the human body and soul? Why can man experience the conflicts between the two? What is human nature, and what is its relationship with the original sin? These questions have often been raised by converts as well as nonbelievers in Fujian. Their keen concerns about the self, especially in terms of the body–soul complex and human nature, in fact point to the core of Christian spiritual and moral learning. The body–soul theme is related to man’s existence, while human nature can be seen as a key factor in man’s development. Both themes were recurrent in medieval theology and Chinese cultural heritage. However, when the two traditions encountered each other in the late Ming, both the Jesuits and Chinese scholars identified more differences than similarities by way of their intercultural and interreligious dialogues. 4.2.1. Body and Soul

The notion of the soul is considered one of the most influential concepts in the history of Christianity and Western culture. It can be traced back to ancient Greek tradition, as we can find related discussions in works such as Plato’s Timaeus and Phaedo and Aristotle’s De anima. During the Middle Ages, the Church fathers and scholastics, including St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, developed a complex and systematic spiritual philosophy fusing Platonic and Aristotelian theories (e.g., the soul–body dichotomy, the immortality of the soul)

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and Christian doctrines by way of exegetical commentaries.93 As a result, during the late medieval period, the notion of the soul had become “the unifying principle that integrated the biological, medical, psychological, epistemological, ethical, metaphysical, and religious inquiries concerning the human being.”94 Along with their propagation of Tianxue, the Jesuits took the initiative to explain the notion of the soul in line with medieval theology. Ruggieri’s Tianzhu shilu introduces the three categories of souls and the five human senses. In Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi, the notion of the soul becomes one of the key words throughout his arguments. Speaking as a Xishi (Western scholar), he emphasizes the unique status of the rational soul in comparison with the vegetative and sentient souls, as well as the immortality of the rational soul. At the same time, he criticizes the Neo-Confucian terms li (principle) and qi (vital force) and the Buddhist idea of the reincarnation of souls. Following Ruggieri and Ricci, the later Jesuits published a series of works on the notion of the soul during the late Ming period. They include, for example, Vagnone’s Xingling shuo 性靈說 (On Human Nature and the Soul, ca. 1610), da Rocha’s Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng (1619), Sambiasi’s Lingyan lishao 靈言蠡勺 (A Ladle of Words on the Soul, 1624), Giulio Aleni’s Xingxue cushu (ca. 1624), and Longobardi’s Linghun daoti shuo 靈魂道體說 (On Human Soul and the Ultimate Way, ca. 1636). All these works revealed the common concern among the missionaries that the notion of the soul should be treated as one of the key components for setting the doctrinal foundation of the Christian faith in late Ming China.95 First of all, to choose a proper Chinese word to translate the notion of the soul proved to be a great challenge to the early Jesuits in China. In Tianzhu shilu, Ruggieri does not specify the Latin word anima, but he uses two words – hun 魂 and hunling 魂靈 – as its Chinese equivalents. 96 Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi applies more flexible Chinese translations of the soul, including shen 神, lingcai 靈才, lingxing 靈性, and linghun 靈魂. In Xingxue cushu, Aleni also lists a group of Chinese words more or less bearing similar meanings to the rational soul, or anima rationalis. It is interesting to note that he not only accepts classical Confucian concepts (e.g., mingde 明德 [bright virtue]) but also agrees on the use of some Neo-Con93

For related studies, see, for example, D. Bostock, Plato’s Phaedo (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986); H. Lorenz, “Plato on the Soul,” The Oxford Handbook of Plato, ed. G. Fine (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008); M.C. Nussbaum – A.O. Rorty (eds.), Essays on Aristotle’s De Anima (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992); Anton Pegis, St. Thomas and the Problem of the Soul in the Thirteenth Century (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1934); Ronald J. Tekse, To Know God and The Soul: Essays on the Thought of Saint Augustine, (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press of America, 2008).

94

Zhang Qiong 1999, p. 367.

95

For recent studies on the Jesuits’ introduction of the soul to late Ming China, see Dong Shaoxin 2015, pp. 39-60; Meynard 2015, pp. 203-241.

96

TZSL, pp. 37-50.

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fucian terms (e.g., liangzhi 良知) and even such terms as lingtai 靈臺 (spiritual platform) and tianjun 天 君 (Heavenly Lord) that have been widely used in popular Buddhist and Daoist texts. Though these terms vary in meaning according to different contexts, Aleni says that they actually refer to the same thing. 97 In this broad list of Chinese terms, one may recognize his motive to reconcile the Christian notion of the soul and traditional Chinese thought by way of a terminological appropriation. The next difficult question is the body–soul dichotomy. Contrary to what one might expect, the relation between soul and body was not a completely alien subject in traditional Chinese thought. The three schools of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism often regarded the body as a source of desire and distraction, that might thwart efforts towards simplicity, tranquility, and moral perfection. But they rarely enunciated an extreme condemnation of the “body as flesh” similar to the Christian definition. Nor did they make consistent efforts to draw clear distinctions between the body and the soul in biological, psychological, or metaphysical terms. As a result, the two were often seen being mixed together in many philosophical, religious, and medical discussions. This was exactly why some Chinese converts, who often confused the Chinese hunsoul with the Christian rational soul, found it particularly difficult to understand the immortal nature of the human soul. Possibly due to the worry about conceptual confusions like these, the Jesuits tended to emphasize the doctrinal idea of the body–soul dichotomy in an absolute sense. Though his arguments on the body–soul relation were still in line with Thomist theology, Aleni largely focused on the conflict/confrontation rather than the unity/harmony between the two. As the discussions on this topic in Kouduo richao often correspond to his own works and those of the other Jesuits, we can make an intertextual comparison to show how Aleni selectively transmits Thomist doctrines, which he claimed to be so authoritative that later scholars had not changed even a word of them.98 Like Ruggieri and Ricci, Aleni also explains the three kinds of souls on earth: shenghun 生魂, i.e., the vegetative soul (anima vegetativa) of plants and trees, juehun 覺魂, i.e., the sentient soul (anima sensitiva) of animals, and linghun 靈 魂, i.e., the rational soul (anima rationalis) of humans. Among them, there is a hierarchical order created by the Lord of Heaven: the rational soul is on the top level, while the sentient soul incorporates the vegetative soul in an animal’s body, and the rational soul incorporates the other two souls inside a man’s body.99 To medieval theologians, this distinction embodied the original justice of a perfect hierarchical order created by God.100 In Xingxue cushu, Aleni further stresses that there is only one soul in each man, not three souls. In other words, the rational 97

XXCS, pp. 104-107.

98

This comment on Aquinas rephrases Aleni’s words in Xixue fan. See XXF, p. 51.

99

XXCS, pp. 103-104.

100

Wildiers 1982, p. 70.

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soul is endowed with the functions of the vegetative soul and the sentient soul.101 The argument likely derives from one of Aquinas’ well-known propositions in Summa Theologiae.102 However, when engaging in actual dialogues with Chinese converts, Aleni refrains from using sophisticated scholastic reasoning. Instead, he gives concrete examples to make his points more easily understandable. Kouduo richao records that, on August 13, 1632, Aleni asks Li Jiubiao how many souls there are in the human body. Li answers that there are three and that the rational soul is merged with the vegetative and sentient souls in the human body. To correct this obvious misconception, the master had to resort to an elaborate instruction: No, no! The human being only has one soul, and that is the rational soul. Since it also has the capacities of procreation and growth and of perception, it includes the vegetative and sentient souls, but that does not mean that in the human body it forms a triad together with the other two. You may compare it with currency that consists of copper, silver and gold coins. A piece of silver represents the value of several copper coins, but that does not mean that the silver coin contains copper coins. A piece of gold represents the value of several silver coins, but that does not mean that the gold coin contains silver and copper coins. If you understand this, you realize that the capacities of the rational soul are combined with the capacities of the vegetative and sentient souls. How could it be that inside the rational soul there again are the vegetative and sentient souls? The reason for this is that as a general rule higher entities can include lower ones, whereas lower entities cannot include higher ones. For instance: a prefecture can include districts, whereas a district cannot include prefectures. The rational soul ranks higher than the vegetative and sentient souls, so it is quite evident that it includes the capacities of the other two.103

The first analogy between the three souls and three types of coins sounds simple but effective. It is also recorded in Xingxue cushu. 104 The key point of Aleni centers on the inclusive capacity of the rational soul in comparison to the other two souls, just like the higher value of gold coins in comparison to silver and copper coins. Aleni might be inspired by Ricci’s earlier arguments on the inclusive capacity of the Lord of Heaven’s perfect nature, in which a similar analogy is used: “A gold coin is worth ten silver coins and one thousand copper coins.” As for the second analogy, Aleni explicitly ties the three levels of souls with a hierarchical structure of powers between high and low administrative offices. It looks like an impromptu case, in which Aleni takes the age-old Chinese mindset of an imperial hierarchy to justify his point. 101

XXCS, pp. 113-117. A similar argument is made in da Rocha’s Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng, but da Rocha tends to use this theory to reject the idea that an animal’s soul could be reincarnated into a man’s soul. See TZSJQM, p. 509. For a more detailed argument on this aspect, see LYLS, pp. 1150-1153.

102

Summa Theologiae, Ia. Q.76, a.3. vol. 11, pp. 59-65.

103

KDRC, pp. 223-225; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 361.

104

XXCS, pp. 113-114.

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If the rational soul is a real substance, one would ask who creates it, when it takes shape, and where it stays. In Xingxue cushu, Aleni explains that the rational soul is not born of human parents or qian 乾 (heaven) and kun 坤 (earth), but as an immaterial entity it is only endowed at man’s birth by the infinite, omnipotent, and most divine Lord of Heaven.105 When someone asks whether the soul lies in the heart or the chest, all over the body or just a certain part of it, Aleni’s answer is that the soul as an inseparable whole should belong to the entire body.106 In Kouduo richao, similar concerns are raised by other Fujian converts. For example, on October 5, 1631, Aleni discusses the formation of the rational soul with two Fuqing converts – Wang Ziguan 王子觀 and Lin Chengkong 林承孔. Lin asks Aleni about the time the Lord of Heaven infuses the rational soul into a human body. Aleni gives an answer based on Aristotelian biological thinking: Given that the formation of a male embryo takes forty days, while a female embryo is complete in eighty days, the infusion of the rational soul takes place at different times according to the gender. When Lin asks further about the special qualities of the rational soul, Aleni repeats what he has said in Xingxue cushu, namely that the rational soul exists in its entirety and at the same time pervades every part of the body. Following his friend’s question, Wang asks whether the soul might be subject to decay in any sense. Aleni would of course deny such a view. In traditional Chinese belief, the hunpo 魂 魄 is considered to possess both physical and spiritual traits, and it might decay at an old age or disappear after death. However, this view is apparently in conflict with the fundamental Christian doctrine on the incorrupt quality of the rational soul. Aleni emphasizes that it is not the soul but xueqi 血氣 (blood–energy) that causes the gradual dysfunctions of the organs, a popular idea in traditional Chinese thought. 107 These concerns exchanged among Aleni and the converts reveal the major differences between the Christian dogma and traditional Chinese thought. In this context, Aleni has to adjust scholastic reasoning in the Chinese context and give specific examples to explain the immaterial and indestructible nature of the rational soul. Regarding the nature of the rational soul, Aquinas held the view that the rational soul is immaterial, incorruptible, and subsistent, because it is capable of existing apart from the body after death.108 It is in essence the formative principle of the body, not some matter similar to or dependent on the body. Yet, under the influence of Aristotelian theory, Aquinas argued that the rational soul is the actuality of a natural organic body and tends to unite with the body.109 In other words, the rational soul retains its existence after being separated from the body 105

XXCS, pp. 126-134.

106

Ibid., p. 118.

107

KDRC, pp. 144-145; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 301.

108

Summa Theologiae, Ia. Q.75, a.1 & 2. vol. 11, pp. 5-13.

109

Summa Theologiae, Ia. Q.76, a.5. Vol. 11, p. 73. For Aristotle’s view, see “On the Soul,” in: Aristotle, vol. 1, pp. 656-657.

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at death, and it has a natural tendency for a material embodiment, through which it can exercise all vital capacities. 110 Even though Aquinas did draw a clear distinction between the soul and the body, he avoided the pitfall of dualism by proposing a balanced view that the two together make up a substantial, intelligent human being. However, Aleni in his writings does not closely follow Aquinas’ argument regarding the subtle body-soul relation. Like most of the other Jesuits in China, he prefers to emphasize the contrast between body and soul rather than their union. In Wanwu zhenyuan, Aleni mentions that a man is the union of body and soul, but he quickly moves on to point out that the soul actualizes the senses and movements. As soon as it leaves the body, the latter will fall apart and decay.111 In Xingxue cushu, Aleni assigns the human soul to the category of spiritual substance (shenti 神 體 ), while the human body belongs to the category of physical substance (xingti 形體). He then gives nine reasons to demonstrate his point, including the soul’s ability for understanding and reasoning, its inclination to goodness, judgment, and repentance, etc. Finally, Aleni claims that the soul must be the master of the body despite the fact of its union with the body. Their relation may be compared to a boatman and his boat: the boatman steers the boat to move forward on the water, but after he lands on the shore and goes home the boat can no longer move by itself.112 In Sanshan lunxue ji, Aleni uses an allegory from Plato: the charioteer (i.e., reason) steering two horses, one being unruly (i.e., appetite) and the other being a thoroughbred (i.e., spirit). 113 In these representative writings, Aleni frequently reminds the readers of the point that the body is by nature an opponent of the soul, thereby presenting the body–soul dichotomy in an absolute sense. As we can see in Kouduo richao, the body–soul relation is also a much discussed topic between Aleni and the Fujian converts. On one occasion, Aleni compares the body to a donkey and the soul to its master. The master uses his whip and spurs the donkey move forward until he reaches a cozy place for rest. If he were to slack the rein and let the donkey go freely, it would waste time on the road and end up being late at the destination.114 In another conversation, Aleni explains the body–soul dichotomy with two special analogies: Now suppose there is a person who casts aside his soul and protects his body: is he not like one who allows his face and eyes to be destroyed in order to preserve his hands and feet? […] You may also compare it with a tree: the soul corresponds to its roots, and the body to its branches and leaves. If you

110

Summa Theologiae, Ia. Q.76, a.1. vol. 11, pp. 39-49.

111

WWZY, p. 199.

112

XXCS, pp. 135-146.

113

For the allegory used by Plato in Phaedrus, see Plato I, pp. 471, 473.

114

KDRC, pp. 196-197; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 337-338.

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nourish the branches and leaves while cutting the roots, all attempts to keep the tree alive will be futile.115

In these arguments, the soul is given a superior, essential, and fundamental role in contrast with the body, which is regarded as subordinate, less valuable, and dependent. Though Aleni admits the authority of Aquinas’ theory on this subject, he consciously or unconsciously changes the original message. When engaging in dialogic exchanges with the Chinese, he does not strictly adopt a scholastic style in argumentation, but instead resorts to specific examples to illustrate his point. Nor does he intend to promote Aquinas’ second proposition that the rational soul has a natural tendency to be united with the body, lest the theory could be easily confused with the common Chinese view of the unity of all things. In this case, his introduction of medieval theology is not a faithful and comprehensive transmission, as some scholars would believe. 116 Conditioned by the self–other paradox, a participant in this type of intercultural dialogue may change his voice, identity, and the meaning of the original message for different purposes. Another prominent topic in Kouduo richao is the concept of sansi 三司, i.e., the Three Faculties of the rational soul – jihan 記含 (memory), mingwu 明悟 (understanding), and aiyu 愛欲 (volition) – that have been established by the early Church Fathers, e.g., Augustine.117 As one of the key medieval Christian concepts, it has been introduced in Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi and other Jesuit works, including Sambiasi’s Lingyan lishao and Aleni’s Xingxue cushu. 118 In Kouduo richao, this scholastic tradition provides a solid base for Aleni and his confreres to engage in discussions with Fujian converts. Interestingly, Aleni and de Mattos show different preferences when they explain the Three Faculties. On September 11, 1632, Lin Yijun asks Aleni which of the Three Faculties is the most important one to obtain merit. Aleni’s answer is volition. There are people who know about the Lord of Heaven but never come to love Him. In contrast, some people being poor in memory and understanding still show sincere love to the Lord. In Aleni’s eyes, this may suggest that volition is superior to the other two faculties and constitutes the storehouse of merit.119 A few months later, on May 9, 1633, Lin Yijun has a discussion with de Mattos on the same topic. He first informs him about Aleni’s earlier opinion, and then he proposes his view that some people may not be capable of combining the Three Faculties to their fullest extent. De Mattos does not seem to agree. Based 115

KDRC, pp. 513-514; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 564-565.

116

For example, when criticizing Gernet’s view on the impossibility of the Chinese understanding of the human soul in a Christian sense, Wang Xiaochao argues that the Jesuits succeeded in a comprehensive introduction of the Thomist theory to Ming–Qing China. See Wang Xiaochao 2000, pp. 321-328.

117

Augustine treats the subject extensively in De Trinitate (On the Trinity), Book X, Chapter 11. See the online text at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130110.htm (accessed March 12, 2018).

118

For Ricci’s introduction of the Three Faculties, see TCSI, p. 364.

119

KDRC, pp. 241-242; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 375-376.

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on the Augustinian definition of the Three Faculties as a “trinity” in the human mind, he explains that some people with special wisdom could perfect all three of them: If someone’s memory is excellent, and the right principles it contains consequently are pure and fully developed, the spiritual light will flare up, and understanding will be born from it. Understanding those right principles naturally creates the urge to put them into practice; hence from understanding volition is born. But only worthies of truly surpassing qualities can combine them [in this way].120

Here de Mattos shows his preference to a different ranking among the Three Faculties. He rather stresses the key role of memory, which serves as the storehouse of reason and knowledge. In his opinion its purity could secure proper understanding and volition. The above two conversations show that, though Aleni and de Mattos preach to the same convert on the same topic, they offer their own interpretations. Aleni is concerned about volition, for it is exactly man’s free will that leads to one’s salvation by voluntarily turning to the Lord of Heaven for redemption and grace. On the other hand, de Mattos ranks memory in the first place, for it serves as the origin of the other two faculties, simply like the Father being the origin of the Son and the Spirit in the Holy Trinity. Of course, the different preferences did not suggest a conflict in doctrinal knowledge between Aleni and de Mattos, but they do show the flexible and diverse voices that the Jesuit masters assumed in real dialogic exchanges. 4.2.2. Human Nature

Compared to the body–soul complex, human nature appears to be a more familiar concept to late Ming scholars. Aleni and his confreres therefore took great efforts to reinterpret the Christian view within an existing Confucian context. In Xingxue cushu, Aleni already mingles the rational soul and human nature by using the compound word lingxing 靈性 (spiritual nature), in addition to the more popular linghun. He definitely knows that the term xing 性 (nature) has profound connotations in Chinese culture, especially in Confucianism. Through his discussions with Yang Tingyun in Hangzhou, Ye Xianggao in Fuzhou, together with the debut presentation of his view on the Confucian proposition “What Heaven has mandated is called (human) nature” (Tianming zhi wei xing 天命之謂性) at the Fuzhou academy, Aleni continually promoted the correspondences between Christianity and Confucianism on the subject of human nature. In his later mission in Fujian, as we can see in Kouduo richao, Aleni more frequently involves himself in discussions on the dichotomy of good and evil regarding man’s spiritual nature. The arguments of Aleni on human nature are in line with those of Ricci. In Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi, the definition of xing is discussed extensively, e.g., how to 120

KDRC, p. 286-287; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 407-408.

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distinguish good nature from bad nature, and how to cultivate good nature and remove bad nature. 121 First, Ricci argues that human nature is “nothing other than the benti 本體 (literally, essential body) of each category of things.” With regard to man, “the capacity to reason establishes man in his own category and distinguishes his benti from other things, and it is the so called human nature.”122 Second, Ricci argues that there are two types of goodness in man: one is liangshan 良善 (innate goodness) and the other is xishan 習善 (acquired goodness). The former is endowed by the Lord, while the latter is to be accumulated through one’s self-cultivation. Ricci further rejects the concept that human nature is originally evil, for “evil is not a real substance but an expression of a lack of goodness.” 123 Clearly, he attempts to find equivalence between man’s perfect nature and soul in the Christian view and man’s original good nature in the Confucian view. In this sense, the self-cultivation that leads to acquired goodness also conforms with Confucian learning for moral perfection. Ricci’s work paves the way for Aleni to create a dialogic hybridization. He also uses the term benti to explain man’s nature (lingxing) in Xingxue cushu, followed by elaborate arguments on why man’s nature must not be confused with the nature of animals and insensate things, and why human nature and soul differ from one person to another.124 In Sanshan lunxue ji, while talking about the Lord of Heaven’s justice with Ye Xianggao, Aleni says that the Lord with His highest good endows man with a good nature at birth. However, three factors cause the emergence of evil: the original sin that taints man’s good nature, the inherited vital force (bingqi 禀氣) from parents, and social customs in different places.125 Moreover, Aleni points out the possibility for a person to change from evil to good. He chooses Confucius’ expression “to subdue the self and return to propriety” (keji fuli 克己復禮) to develop his argumentation, to which Ye would easily agree. 126 To Aleni, this type of superposed Christian–Confucian view provides an alternative angle for the debates on human nature among NeoConfucian scholars.127 121

As indicated in Ricci’s journal, this section is developed from an actual debate between Ricci and the Buddhist master Sanhoi (namely, Sanhuai 三槐). See Gallagher 1953, pp. 337-343. For a detailed analysis of this debate, see Cheung 2002, pp. 91-97.

122

TCSI, pp. 348-351.

123

Ibid., pp. 352-357.

124

XXCS, pp. 119-123.

125

SSLXJ, pp. 459-460. For Aquinas’ arguments on the original sin and its effects on human nature and soul, see Summa Theologiae, 1a2æ, Q. 85, a. 1, vol. 26; Q. 86, a.1- a. 2, vol. p. 27.

126

SSLXJ, pp. 459-463.

127

A good example of this type of discussion is Wang Shouren’s “four-phrase” summary of his teaching on human nature: Beyond the distinction of good and evil is the substance of the mind; by distinguishing good from bad the will is aroused; knowing good and bad derives from the innate knowledge; doing good and getting rid of bad results from investigation of things. This incurred an immediate division between his two best known

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In Kouduo richao, Aleni continues to promote the aforementioned views with a synthetic approach. On May 5, 1630, he invites a few converts for dinner. One of them, Liu Liangbi, complains about the recent upsurge of piracy. In Liu’s eyes, the pirates have an inherently evil nature. Aleni responds by saying that evil men may return to good due to their inner conscience. Interestingly, he uses the Jesuits’ mission in Africa as an example: In the West there is the Country of Black People. Formerly they were totally unacquainted with the relations between ruler and subject, father and son, and husband and wife. But recently some members of our Society have propagated the Doctrine in that region, and as a result they gradually are getting to know about the principles of right conduct and to distinguish the human relations. That one fact also confirms that human nature can be made good.128

With this vivid example Aleni not only confirms Catholic orthodoxy, but he also pictures a superior model of Western culture offering moral guidance to uncivilized people. His argument is embedded with an ideological overtone: The West is a highly civilized culture, and its people propagate moral values to inferior or uncivilized peoples in a similar way the Chinese do. The subtle articulation once more underlines Aleni’s conscious adaptation to the Chinese other in a dialogic exchange. However, Aleni’s synthetic approach does not mean a total compliance with mainstream Confucian thought. For instance, when talking about the ways to cultivate human nature, he directly challenges the Confucian saying of shuaixing zhi wei dao 率性之謂道 (To follow [human] nature is the Way) in Zhongyong (Doctrine of the Mean). In his annotation, Zhu Xi comments that “Men and things all follow the natural tendency of their nature, so among their daily affairs there will be no one who does not have a way that one should go along. This is the so-called Way.”129 Since Zhu equates xing 性 (nature) with li 理 (principle), an absolutely good entity in contrast to impure, unstable qi 氣 (vital force), human nature must be good as well. Therefore, the Way is nothing else but to do things according to their nature. Song–Ming Neo-Confucians followed Zhu’s view, based on which Wang Shouren developed his theory of innate knowledge by combining Zhu’s concept of li and the Buddhist concept of xin 心 (mind). Nonetheless, to the great surprise of those Neo-Confucian scholars, Aleni argued for a different understanding: one should not follow one’s nature but rather subdue it through one’s moral cultivation. On August 26, 1631, at the banquet offered by Weng Heling 翁鶴齡, Li Jiubiao asks for Aleni’s comment on a convert who has done some good works, but still could not overcome the sin of gluttony. His master answers: disciples, Qian Dehong 錢德洪 and Wang Ji 王畿, and more divisions in the Xinxue School. For studies on this subject, see Rong Zhaozu 1982, pp. 87-98; Tang Chun-i 1970, pp. 93-117; Hou – Qiu – Zhang 1984, vol. 2, pp. 230-237; Peterson 1998a, pp. 718-728. 128

KDRC, pp. 58-59; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 221.

129

Sishu zhangju jizhu, p. 17.

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Zisi has said that “Following human nature is called the Way,” but I rather would say “Subduing human nature is called the Way.” As long as the substance of human nature had not yet become spoilt, the Way was realized by simply following it. But at present the nature of man is no more what it originally was. How could we realize the Way without subduing it?130

Aleni agrees with the general Confucian view that human nature is originally good, but for obvious doctrinal reasons he would not say it is autogenetic or derives from a certain principle or energy. It is endowed by the Lord of Heaven, but due to original sin man fell and lost the original state of goodness. The only way to recover the original good nature would be the cleansing of original sin through baptism and the continuous spiritual and moral cultivation to overcome both external temptations and internal desires. In this sense, Aleni does not intend to challenge the mainstream Confucian explanations in line with Mencius’ thought. The so-called kexing 克性 (to subdue [human] nature) superposes a Catholic notion – original sin resulting from the fall of man – onto the same scheme.131 Therefore it is still a legitimate effort to restore man’s nature to its original state through self-cultivation, rather than a criticism or misunderstanding of the Confucian notion of shuaixing.132 In fact, Aleni was not the first among late Ming Jesuits to use the expression kexing. Pantoja has introduced it in his Pangzi yiquan in response to a question on the Confucian saying of “to follow [human] nature is the Way.” He states that the Lord of Heaven has created man and endowed him with the most intelligent and purest nature. What man thought was in accordance with Tianli 天 理 (Heavenly Principle), and what man followed was the righteous way. After the xianzu 先祖 (great ancestors, i.e., Adam and Eve) were tempted by the devil, the original virtues were lost and human nature became corrupted and degenerated, sprouting desires and evil tendencies. As a result, people nowadays are easily inclined to do evil but feel it difficult to do good. This is not simply because they have become used to evil, but rather due to the internal sickness of human nature. Pantoja then puts forth a Christian solution: In my observation of people who cultivate the Way now, most of them do it in the name of shuaixing. There is one nature, but the ways [they cultivate it] are more than one. Why so? Due to the mixture of principle and desire in nature, it is difficult to analyze and make a judgment. Often there are those who follow evil in nature and yet still assert that they rather follow the good in nature. Therefore, in my country in the West the saints only see kexing as one accomplishment. When they teach people to cultivate the Way, they dare not propagate following nature. Instead they propagate following Shangdi. It is not that the Way of Shangdi is different from the Way of nature. Since nature has been rotten and polluted, if one uses it to understand the principle one will be 130

KDRC, pp. 117-118; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 273.

131

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 146-147.

132

For discussions in this respect, see Pan Feng-chuan 1997, pp. 531-533; and id. 2002, pp. 167-171.

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like a blind man, and if one follows it to do good works one will be like a cripple. It is not enough to be a chariot on the right path.133

The focus here is on whether human nature can serve as the standard by which man’s values can be achieved, or whether there is another superior standard. Neo-Confucians would choose the former option. Though engaging in lively debates among themselves, they shared the common belief that there is a pure inner core of human nature inside everyone, which remains unaffected despite external evil influences. As soon as this hidden nature is discovered, the decisive factor was whether one could follow it or not. The Christian solution which Pantoja offers is notably different. The ultimate standard does not rest with man’s soul or nature, but rather with the omnipotent Lord of Heaven. Though originally good, human nature was no longer reliable after having been contaminated by the original sin. Self-perfection has to rely on the divine grace from the Lord and the established rules from the Church. Pantoja and the other Jesuits in late Ming China devoted great efforts to reconcile with the practice of self-cultivation. In his Qike, Pantoja further provides a Christian remedy to cure the illness of human nature. He explains in detail how to overcome the seven cardinal sins of pride, envy, greed, anger, gluttony, lust, and sloth, together with an emphasis on continuous efforts to practice the seven virtues. The ultimate goal of the work, as Pantoja and Confucian converts repeatedly express in their prefaces and postscripts, is to reinforce Confucius’ own teaching of keji fuli.134 It is likely that Aleni might have drawn inspiration from Pantoja’s works in his dialogic exchanges with the Chinese scholars in Fujian. Not only did he actually quote Confucius’ keji fuli in his discussions with Ye Xianggao, his distinction between shuaixing and kexing also rephrased Pantoja’s earlier arguments. This could explain why, after Aleni’s discussion with Li Jiubiao, another convert called Lin Yunqing 林雲卿 visits him on the next day to discuss with him the difficulty of practicing the methods prescribed in Pantoja’s Qike. Aleni, obviously aware of Pantoja’s use of the word kexing, answers: “Since human nature has become spoilt, what springs from it cannot be free from [evil] tendencies. But if you subdue it and subdue it again, you gradually will reach the state of having few [sins].”135 In these exchanges with his convert disciples, Aleni apparently does not intend to use the term kexing to replace Confucian thought. Like Pantoja, his view aims at pointing out an alternative method to recover classical Confucianism. This is why he argues: “As long as the substance of human nature had not yet become spoilt, the Way was realized by simply following it.” In other words, the Confucian notion of shuaixing may still be valid in a Christian context, i.e., 133

PZYQ, pp. 249-251.

134

Qike (TXCH), pp. 693; 705; 713; 1125. For analysis of the work in terms of ChineseChristian morality, see HCC 1, pp. 655-659.

135

KDRC, p. 118; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 274. In this case, Zürcher also suggests a possible link between Aleni and Pantoja on account of their use of the same key word kexing.

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before the fall of man and the loss of original nature. Now that human nature is no longer what it once was, people have to adjust accordingly to deal with problems in reality. Aleni’s arguments are more or less consciously misread by the anti-Christian scholars. For example, Huang Zichen 黃紫宸 in his Pixie jie 闢邪解 (Notes on the Refutation of the Evil Religion) claims that no one should cast any doubt at Zisi’s 子思 (483–402 B.C.E.) proposition of “following nature.” He quotes a phrase of Confucius, “by nature [men] are alike; by practice [they] are apart” (xing xiang jin ye, xi xiang yuan ye 性相近也,習相遠也) to support his point that human nature was innately good but later was polluted in practice. Hence, one can only overcome the pollution in one’s behavior, but not one’s nature. Aleni’s real intention, which is actually similar to Huang’s, is missed here.136 In another critical work by Huang Wendao 黃問道, Aleni is misidentified as the author of the Qike, and Huang claims that what Aleni promotes are vulgar misinterpretations of Confucius’ teaching. He instead offers his own explanation on the phrase keji fuli: “Humanity is the goal and propriety is the substance. As long as humanity is retained, the inhumane things will retreat by themselves. As soon as propriety is recovered, the improper things will stop by themselves.”137 In Huang’s mind, the foreigners have come to China with a hidden treacherous intention. They steal the ideas of Yao and Shun, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius to make their religion look familiar to the Chinese. But they hide their real purpose, i.e., to replace all three schools – Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism – with the teaching of the Lord of Heaven. This is nothing short of an usurpation of the most honorable role of Heaven in Chinese belief, as well as a denial of the authority of the ancient sages. These criticisms, though often overstated out of xenophobic sentiments, suggest that the anti-Christian scholars noticed the potential danger of the Jesuits’ strategic adaptation and reinterpretation of Chinese thought for missionary purposes. From the viewpoint of “reception,” the late Ming encounter of the Jesuits and Chinese scholars reveals fundamentally different world views. The two parties can only find some similarities on the surface while leaving out the irreconcilable parts on a deeper level. 138 If we examine this phenomenon from the dialogic perspective, we see a different picture. On the one hand, what Aleni explains to the Chinese is a Catholic concept tailored for the mainstream Confucian learning. On the other hand, what the anti-Christian scholars adopt to criticize Aleni turns out to be a Chinese theory based on personal reinterpretations of classical Confucianism. Therefore, it is less a matter of whether the self can or cannot understand the other than a face-to-face contest for discursive authority in the dialogic self–other exchange. 136

Huang Zichen, Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 263-265. Zürcher mistypes Huang Zichen as Huang Zhen, but in his annotation for the passage the name is corrected. See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 147, n. 355; and p. 274.

137

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 266-269.

138

Gernet 1982, pp. 191-223.

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4.3. Accomplishing Three Merits The previous sections on the construction of a Christian–Chinese hierarchy and Christian–Confucian morality more or less focused on theoretical and theological discussions. Though not all concepts are unanimously accepted by the Chinese dialogists with their different religious and cultural interests, they provide a solid ground for a new spiritual and moral learning to take shape in daily practice. It is a gradual process developed along three parallel concepts. On March 1, 1637, in his homily to Quanzhou converts, Aleni explains the three key merits (sangong 三功) in one’s religious life – xiao yu Zhu 孝於主 (filial piety towards the Lord of Heaven), ci yu ren 慈於人 (benevolence towards people), and yan yu ji 嚴于 己 (austerity towards the self) – which have been discussed in the writings of previous Jesuits and scholar converts.139 For a Catholic believer in 17th-century Europe, these merits constituted the basic requirements for a devotional life. For a late Ming Chinese, these merits would have been attractive largely because of their resemblance to major Confucian moral concerns, including reverence to Heaven for its mandate, love to people for humanity, and cultivation of the self for perfection. It is therefore understandable that some sets of similar concepts have been adopted by later Chinese converts. For example, in Lixiu yijian, Li Jiugong divides the topics into three categories: jingzhu 敬主 (respect the Lord), xiuji 修己 (cultivate one’s self), and airen 愛人 (love people).140 Likewise, Li uses a tripartite scheme in another work, Shensi lu: hetian 和天 (harmony with Heaven [i.e., God]), heren 和人 (harmony with people), and heji 和己 (harmony with one’s self). 141 As we will see in the following analysis, the three merits indeed became a key concern of Aleni and his convert disciples in carrying out their synthetic Christian–Confucian pattern of spiritual and moral learning. 4.3.1. Filial Piety to the “Great Father–Mother” and Parents

First and foremost Aleni emphasizes the man–God relation in his instruction. He says, Being filial towards the Lord means that your heart is filled with love, like a filial son serving his parents, and that your heart is filled with awe, like a slave serving the master of the house. If one is willing to extend those feelings of love and awe to the Lord of Heaven and to be his filial son and loyal subject, he surely will receive no small measure of grace.142 139

KDRC, p. 460; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 527. Aleni may have drawn inspiration from the three expressions of Yang Tingyun in his preface to Pantoja’s Qike, i.e., jingtian 敬天 (revere Heaven), airen 愛 人 (love people), and keji 克 己 (overcome one’s self). See Juejiao tongwen ji 絕徼同文紀 (On the Culture Shared by the Ends of the Earth, 1617), in CCT BnF, vol. 6, p. 193; Standaert 1988, pp. 70, 121-122.

140

Lixiu yijian, in CCT BnF, vol. 7, pp. 87-88.

141

Shensi lu, in CCT ARSI, vol. 9, pp. 148, 177, 203.

142

KDRC, pp. 460-461; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 527.

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Quite evidently, he is trying to superpose the Christian man–God relation onto the Chinese child–parent relation. This analogy, which fuses the religious with the secular, is strikingly similar to Aleni’s comparison of the Christian universal hierarchy to the Chinese imperial system. While adapting to Chinese political and family traditions, he reinterprets in a creative way the typical Christian image of God, who is the sole spiritual “father” figure distinct from any secular parent.143 Before Aleni, the Jesuits and the Chinese converts had already begun to use the term da fumu 大父母 (Great Father-Mother), to refer to the Lord of Heaven. The name itself underlines the Lord’s unparalleled power and authority. In Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi, after the Western scholar has refuted incorrect views about the Lord of Heaven, the Chinese scholar highly praises the former’s arguments and says: “But how much more should we honor the Lord of Heaven who is the great Father and Mother, the great Sovereign, the first Cause of all first ancesstors, the One from whom all sovereigns derive their mandate and the Producer and Sustainer of all things? How can one be mistaken about Him or forget Him?”144 Likely because the compound word contains two genders at the same time, the Western scholar does not repeat it in his answer. He just calls the Lord of Heaven da fu 大父 (Great Father), in line with Christian convention. However, in a later argument, the Western scholar explicitly equates the man– God relation with a father–son relation: I now define the theory of filial piety for you. To define the theory of filial piety, we must first define the theory of father–son relation. There are three “fathers” that a man has in the universe: first is the Lord of Heaven, the second is the ruler of a kingdom, the third is the master of a household. The one who disobeys the wills of the three fathers is an unfilial son. When all under heaven follows the Way, the wills of the three fathers do not conflict with each other, for the inferior father commands his son to serve the superior fathers. If the son obeys one, his filial piety will reach all three. When all under heaven does not follow the Way, orders of the three fathers oppose to each other, for the inferior father does not obey the superior fathers. He seeks to benefit his own selfish ends and makes his son serve himself, regardless of the superior fathers. The son should listen to the order of the supreme father. Even though he offends the inferior fathers, it does not violate his filiality. But if he obeys the inferior fathers but offends the supreme father, he will certainly be the most unfilial son. The master of a kingdom and I have a relation of ruler and subject and the master of a household and I have a relation of father and son. If compared with the Lord of Heaven, the universal father, all men have an equal standing as brothers despite their ruler–subject and father–son relations. This relation cannot be obscured.145 143

The Bible commands one to be “filial” to one’s biological parents, but not God. In the New Testament, Jesus teaches his disciples filial piety in general, but sometimes He contrasts one’s love to God with one’s love to parents in order to strengthen their devotion. See, for example, Mt 10:21, 34-39, 12:46-50; Mk 13:12; Lk: 18:29-30.

144

TCSI, pp. 130-131.

145

TCSI, pp. 432-434.

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The fatherhood triad is a creative superposition of three of the five Confucian moral relations – ruler-subject, father–son, and elder brother – younger brother. In the voice of the Western scholar, Ricci further argues that the universal “family” has God as the universal “father” and all men as the sons with universal brotherhood. This description is similar to the ideal society once depicted by the Song NeoConfucian Zhang Zai 張 載 (1020–1077), who in his Ximing 西 銘 (Western Inscription) boldly claims that Heaven is the Father, Earth is the Mother, people are brothers, and things are companions. 146 Ricci’s universal brotherhood is firmly rooted in the Christian universal hierarchy, and thus his subtle arguments could not escape criticisms from anti-Christian scholars. One of them strongly opposed Ricci’s universal brotherhood and considered the equality between father and son and between ruler and subject a horrible violation of Confucian moral relations. 147 As a result, the later Jesuits, including Aleni, were careful when talking about the priority of the Great Father–Mother over secular rulers and parents. Filial piety, and loyalty in the same manner, must abide by the one condition that the spiritual and the secular could co-exist in harmony with each other. Despite its ambiguous meaning, da fumu has become an increasingly popular term used by the Jesuits in their writings side by side with the term Great Father.148 On the other hand, the Chinese converts appeared to be comfortable with the term da fumu, as we can see in the works of Yang Tingyun, Li Zhizao, and Wang Zheng 王徵 (1571–1644). They preferred a straight, personal relationship with the Lord of Heaven. In adopting such a hybrid term situated between the Chinese and the Christian traditions, and between religion and morality, they made conscious and collective efforts to “inculturate” the Christian doctrines through creative reinterpretations.149 Understandably, the term da fumu also became a key concept in Aleni’s efforts to develop a synthetic form of Christian–Chinese spiritual and moral life in Fujian. In Sanshan lunxue ji, for example, he argues: The Lord of Heaven is the true master of all things between heaven and earth. He creates heaven, earth, man, angels, and things, supervising and nourishing them. He is our Great Father–Mother. Who can endow us with mind, body,

146

For a translation of the text, see de Bary 1999, vol. 1, pp. 683-684. For an analysis of Zhang’s thought in this respect, see Hou – Qiu – Zhang 1984, vol. 1, pp. 105-109. For a comparison between Ricci and Zhang Zai, see Standaert 1988, pp. 118-119.

147

Chen Houguang 陳候光, “Bianxue chuyan” 辯學芻言, in Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 246-247. Xu Dashou uses similar arguments in his Shengchao zuopi to prove that Aleni’s teaching violates Confucian moral relations. See Xia Guiqi 1996, pp. 206-209.

148

Qike (TXCH), pp. 819, 829; also Tianzhu shiyi xupian 天主實義續篇 (WXXB), pp. 113114; TZJYJL, p. 152.

149

Standaert 1988, pp. 116-123, 219-224.

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nature, and life except Him? Who can rule the states under heaven except Him? He is the One that we human beings should revere the most.150

Aleni reasons that Buddha is also born of the Lord of Heaven, hence he is supposed to revere the latter, but not to usurp the latter’s fatherhood. Clearly, he attempts to use the Confucian concept of filial piety to oppose Cao Xuequan’s sympathetic attitude towards Buddhism. In Kouduo richao, filial piety to the Great Father–Mother and one’s parents is discussed among Aleni and his convert disciples, e.g., when Ke Zhenfu 柯楨符 asks Aleni to baptize his son. Since Ke’s father is not yet baptized, Aleni reminds Ke that he has not truly obeyed the Fourth Commandment of filial piety after conversion. A filial son in addition to supporting his parents’ livelihood must first find for them eternal life in the most peaceful place in Heaven, rather than let them fall into eternal suffering in Hell. As a convert knowing about the matters of life and death, Ke should inform and persuade his father to put his trust in the Lord of Heaven to avoid eternal misery. 151 In Aleni’s Dizui zhenggui, it is specified as one of the 28 unfilial acts that one should avoid in order to comply with the Fourth Commandment.152 There could be another reason why Aleni takes the issue so seriously. It is known that the fast growing Catholic communities in late Ming China were mainly family-based. Yang Tingyun and his family may serve as a good example. His mother was a devoted Buddhist believer. After Yang fasted until he became extremely emaciated in hope of her conversion to Christianity, she finally gave up and received baptism. Yang then led the whole family to pray, meditate, and attend mass regularly.153 The two families of Li Jiubiao and Zhang Geng, as has been discussed before, also followed a similar family-based pattern. Hence, Aleni’s urge of Ke Zhenfu to fulfill his filial piety could possibly involve this practical concern as well. On another occasion, Aleni discusses human nature with Li Shiyan 李士彥, Li Jiubiao’s younger brother. In response to Li’s point that human nature could being neutral, neither good nor bad, Aleni shifts the focus to a moralistic concern about filiality and draws an analogy between the Lord of Heaven and the human parents: Qidi said: “Now suppose there is a man here: he does not steal, he is not unchaste, nor does he give false evidence, so he can be called ‘not bad’. But since he does not worship the Lord of Heaven, he is not good either.” The master said: “You also know about filial behavior, don’t you? Now suppose there is a man here: he is not a profligate, he does not gamble, nor does he indulge in frivolous amusement or abandon his work. He indeed can be called a [decent] person. However, his behavior towards his parents is such that he does not congratulate them on their birthdays; when they are sick he 150

SSLXJ (WXXB), pp. 436-439.

151

KDRC, pp. 213-214.

152

DZZG, p. 389.

153

Yang Qiyuan (CCT ZKW), pp. 222-226.

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does not inform himself about their condition, and every morning and evening he fails to ask them how they are. And yet brimming with conceit he says: ‘How can anybody call me unfilial?’ But do you think that his father and mother are happy to have that son? Since he does not serve his parents he hardly can evade the guilt of being unfilial. [In the same way] if one does not serve one’s Great Father-and-Mother, it will be almost impossible to avoid being punished for committing evil. After all, if the Root and Origin have been lost sight of, all the rest is not worth looking at. How can one use ‘being neither good nor bad’ as a pretext for glossing over one’s faults?”154

Li’s idea seems to derive from the common view on the nature of mind (xin 心) among the Ming Neo-Confucians, who would say that the original substance of the mind is beyond any distinction of good and evil. However, Aleni’s argument suggests a typical dualistic view out of medieval theology: A rational man is either good or evil. There is no neutral position in the middle. To Aleni, this black-and-white distinction is the foundation of Christian– Confucian ethics. In this case, if one does not serve one’s parents, no matter how he behaves otherwise, he should be considered an unfilial son. Likewise, if one does not serve the Great Father–Mother, i.e., the Lord of Heaven, he will be considered an evil man. Aleni’s reasoning sounds somewhat exaggerated, but the analogy is effective enough to present a close tie between moral filiality and spiritual filiality. In representing a composite concept of filiality, Aleni also addresses the ageold Chinese custom of ancestor worship. In an episode recorded in Kouduo richao, he is questioned by a visitor on the Jesuits’ prohibition of burning paper money for the deceased parents of Chinese converts. He suspects that this may be a violation of the “Christian” commandment of filial piety. Aleni of course would refute the accusation as unfounded. He starts with a counterquestion on whether a filial child may cheat his parents. On hearing the expected negative answer from the visitor, Aleni elaborates this well-knit argument: As long as one’s parents are alive one always slaughters animals and serves sweet wine to feed them, and after they have gone these still are offered to them because one cannot bear forgetting them: that is what is called “serving the dead as if they still were alive; serving those who have gone as if they still were present.” That is the right way to express one’s feelings of filial piety and respect. Now those “silver” ingots that are offered to them – are they not made of paper? If during his parents’ lifetime a son would present them with paper imitations of gold and silver, they surely would be angry and rebuke him, and regard it as fraud. If after they have gone he offers them such things, it means that he can bear treating them as dead persons [instead of serving them “as if they still were alive”], and therefore he dares to deceive them. How very unfilial and disrespectful!155

154

KDRC, pp. 232-233; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 368.

155

KDRC, pp. 275-276; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 399-400.

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The sentence that Aleni quotes is partly from Confucius’ praise of the filial acts of King Wu and Duke of Zhou. The original words of Confucius can be found in the Zhongyong: They [King Wu and Duke of Zhou] occupied the places of their forefathers, practiced their ceremonies, and performed their music. They reverenced those whom they honored, and loved those whom they regarded with affection. Thus they served the dead as they would have served them alive; they served the departed as they would have served them had they been continued among them. These were the most filial acts.156

Since the two ancient sages retained the same filial services to their forefathers whether they were alive or dead, so should the Chinese in later times follow these past examples. This thoughtful argumentation does not seem to convince the visitor, so Aleni asks him who can be the paragons of filial piety – ancient sages or the people at present. When the visitor says that the ancient sages cannot be matched, which is again the expected answer, Aleni argues, “Before the Qin there was no paper, and in the sacrificial canons of the Three Dynasties the use of paper is not mentioned. If you, sir, really do not intend to belittle them, why do you go on babbling like this?” 157 These words force the visitor to leave, likely with embarrassment. Aleni might have known about the invention of paper in China by the Han Dynasty official Cai Lun 蔡倫 (63–121), who is also considered the inventor of paper money according to folk legends. 158 However, Aleni’s true intention is to make use of classical Confucian examples to attack the superstitious Chinese practices and recover the true filial service to the Lord of Heaven, or da fumu of all in the universe. More remarkably, he also vividly shows his fine argumentation skills in such a dramatic exchange. In another conversation, Aleni is asked by Fei zhongzun 費中尊, a local official in Fuqing, whether local Chinese converts indeed destroy the ancestral images at home.159 Aleni would of course deny this as a rumor. The first three commandments dictated by the Lord of Heaven, he says, are to worship the only authentic lord between heaven and earth. But among the remaining seven commandments, he says, filial piety is in the first place. He then restates the quotation of Confucius to make it clear that the converts continued to observe the Christian–Confucian rules of filial piety. The reason for a rumor like this may possibly refer to the converts’ destroying the evil Buddhist idols to fulfill the first commandment. The idols have once been placed side by side with images of the ancestors. When the converts take away the idols, some people blame them for

156

Legge 2001, vol. I, p. 403.

157

KDRC pp. 276-277; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 400.

158

Hou Hanshu 後漢書 (History of the Later Han Dynasty), in ESSS, vol. 10, p. 2513.

159

Zhongzun refers to Fei’s title. According to Xiao Qinghe, he may have been Fei Daoyong 費道用, who was then the magistrate of Fuqing. See Xiao Qinghe 2009, p. 110.

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destroying the ancestral images. The rumor, in Aleni’s eyes, was certainly invented by Buddhist or Daoist heretics.160 In this dialogic exchange, we can see both challenge and defense underpinned by a self–other complex. It suggests that Aleni and the Fujian converts had to face increasing pressure on the sensitive issue of ancestor worship, the backbone of Chinese morality in terms of filial piety. As we will see in the next section, some local converts in the mid-1630s had developed a special ritual of putting a Cross on the family altar together with a tablet inscribed with parents’ names. This practice helped the formation of a hybrid spiritual and moral life in late Ming Fujian Catholic communities, in which the Jesuits and the converts adopted the new composite concept of “filial piety” to worship the Lord of Heaven, or their Great Father–Mother. 4.3.2. Love and Benevolence to People

The second merit to accomplish, as stressed in Aleni’s homily, is to show benevolence to the people. He intends to focus on the kindness and sympathy with which one should treat others, thus applying the metaphor of a loving mother to her son.161 However, one should notice that benevolence (ci 慈) is the same as love (ai 愛), which appears more often in the instructions of Aleni and other Jesuit masters. More interestingly, these two terms also have an inseparable connection with a third term, humaneness (ren 仁), one of the essential concepts in Confucian teaching.162 It seems that the Jesuit masters and Fujian converts in the 1630s not only discussed spiritual love and moral love which both had already undergone a process of Christian–Confucian hybridization ever since Ricci, but they also promoted benevolent works to actualize love, humaneness, goodness, or whatever good nature the Lord of Heaven had endowed man with. In Tianzhu shiyi, after a discussion on human nature in terms of innate goodness and acquired goodness, Ricci describes the orthodox learning among Western scholars which in fact resembles Confucian moral education. He reinterprets the Confucian theory on humaneness from a Catholic perspective: The theory of ren (humaneness) can be summed up exhaustively with two sentences: love the Lord of Heaven, for He is supreme; and love others as you love yourself for the sake of the Lord of Heaven. If you carry out these two [commandments], every action you make will be perfect. But the two are merely one. If one loves a person passionately, one will love what that person loves. The Lord of Heaven loves people; If I genuinely love the Lord of Heaven can I fail to love people He loves?163 160

KDRC, pp. 388-389.

161

Ibid., p. 461.

162

Ren has been translated as “virtue” or “benevolence” (Legge 2001 [1935]), “goodness” (Waley 1989 [1938])), and “humaneness” (de Bary 1999 [1938]). I use “humaneness” to translate the single word ren and “benevolence” to translate ren in a compound word, e.g., ren’ai 仁愛.

163

TCSI, p. 374-375. I use Lancashire’s and Hu’s translation with slight changes.

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Then, Ricci links the twofold love with Confucius’ own explanation of humaneness: “Sincere love for men is the greatest result of a love for the Lord of Heaven. This is what is meant by the expression ‘humaneness is to love men’. If a man does not love his fellowmen, how can it be proved that he sincerely reveres the Lord on High?”164 Ricci obviously recognizes the resemblance between the two fundamental Christian commandments and the classical Confucian interpretation of humaneness.165 He not only changes the word lin 鄰 (neighbor) used by Jesus to the word ren 人 (man) used by Confucius, but he also changes a graded Confucian “love” into a universal Christian “love.” This conscious superposition stimulates further discussions in a syncretic style between the two interlocutors on how to love the Lord of Heaven and other people. In the Fujian mission, Aleni and his confreres also made efforts to promote a composite Christian–Confucian type of love in their daily conversations with the converts. As is recorded in Kouduo richao, Rudomina explains to the converts the impartial love of the Lord of Heaven to those who sincerely confess their past sins. 166 On another occasion, he uses the example of St. John the Apostle to reiterate the point that those who loved the Lord of Heaven must love other people, because His incarnation and redemption took place for the love of man.167 De Mattos also teaches the converts that the Host they received during the mass is an embodiment of the Lord of Heaven’s love.168 Moreover, in a conversation with Li Jiubiao, de Mattos says that if one keeps the true love of the Lord there is no difficulty to overcome the self (keji). Those who faithfully follow the Lord’s commandments in mind, speech, and action give Him most of their love and in return the Lord will reward them with even more love. Since it is the Lord’s purpose to love people, those who love the Lord must extend the divine love to others.169 Aleni’s instructions on the twofold love also adopt the same logic, but he shows a more explicit intent to harmonize Christian spiritual love and Confucian moral love. Kouduo richao records an interesting conversation between him and Lin Yijun (courtesy name Yongyue 用籲) on August 22, 1632, when they stay overnight on their way from Haikou to Fuqing: Yongyue asked for instruction, saying: “According to the Holy Doctrine we must love others as we love ourselves – that I know already. But may I ask: are there different kinds of love?” The master said: “There are. There is profit-seeking love [li’ai 利愛]; there is emotional love [qing’ai 情愛], and there is benevolent love [ren’ai 仁愛].” Yongyue asked: “What do you call 164

TCSI, pp. 380-381. I use Lancashire’s and Hu’s translation with slight changes

165

For New Testament references to the two commandments, see Mt 22:34-40 and Lk 10:2527. For Confucius’ answer to his disciple on humaneness, see Legge 2001, vol. I, p. 260.

166

KDRC, pp. 81-84.

167

Ibid., pp. 103-104.

168

Ibid., pp. 281-282.

169

Ibid., pp. 394-396.

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profit-seeking love?” The master said: “Love that takes its departure from oneself is called ‘profit-seeking love’; it means loving others because in some way they serve my interests. Even wrongdoers know that kind of love. Love that takes its departure from others is called ‘emotional love’; it means loving others because they are my relatives or friends. Even ignorant people know that kind of love. Love that takes its departure from the Lord of Heaven is called ‘benevolent love’. I myself as well as all other human beings in the whole world have been created by the Lord of Heaven. Since I love Him, how would I not love all human beings, his creatures? Therefore benevolent love encompasses even the most distant peoples in the whole world; it includes everybody. Only saints and sages are capable of it. Although these three all are called ‘love’, as regards altruism and selfishness or comprehensiveness and narrowness they are as vastly different as heaven and earth. What in the Holy doctrine is called ‘Love others like yourself’ refers, first of all, to the practice of benevolent love, but emotional love always is included in it. As for profitseeking love, it just is despicable and worthless.”170

Aleni’s classification of love is comparable to an earlier account from Pantoja’s Qike. In it, Pantoja lists three kinds of love: xi’ai 習愛 (habitual love), li’ai 理愛 (rational love), and ren’ai 仁愛 (benevolent love).171 Though xi’ai and li’ai are not exact match of Alein’s li’ai and qing’ai, the third kind ren’ai in Pantoja’s and Aleni’s explanations carries the same meaning, i.e., love to the Lord of Heaven and all men that He creates. Like what Pantoja has argued, Aleni also contrasts ren’ai with the other two kinds of love: Ren’ai is the true form of Christian love required by God, altruistic and comprehensive, while the other two kinds are either needs-based or desire-based, with an egocentric tendency, thus deviating from the divine ordinance of God. Aleni’s clear separation of Christian love and worldly love seems to follow the mainstream theory of love in medieval theology. As a matter of fact, love was a controversial concept since early Christianity, and the debates of church theologians often revolved around some key words, including nomos, eros, philia, and agape, out of the Hellenistic tradition. The major syncretic effort was made by St. Augustine, who brought two sharply different definitions of love – eros in the Neoplatonic sense and agape in the Christian sense – into a new conceptual unity. He particularly chose the Latin word caritas to incorporate and reconcile the heterogeneous features associated with eros and agape. Moreover, he paired caritas with another Latin word cupiditas, so that the role of caritas as the true form of Christian love may be highlighted: Caritas is love directed upward towards God the Creator, and it leads to a sense of eternity and ultimate happiness. In contrast, cupiditas is love directed downward towards the world of the created things, and it leads to a sense of temporality and transient, incomplete happiness. Augustine was reluctant to present a sharp dualism between the two 170

171

KDRC, pp. 233-235; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 369. The second question is also asked by Lin Yijun, not Qidi as is translated by Zürcher.

Qike (TXCH), pp. 821-822.

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concepts, as he believed that they shared the same nature of acquisitive love and were only to be distinguished by different objects. Nonetheless, his distinction between caritas and cupiditas was adopted by medieval theologians, e.g., St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, as a model for the fundamental doctrine of love. Primarily due to Augustine’s theory, the Church could stand on a solid footing to promote Christianity as a religion of love—of love in terms of caritas.172 Aleni’s explanation on love may likely be inspired by St. Augustine and the medieval theologians, as one can see in his exaltation of the benevolent love on top of all other kinds of love. The word ren’ai itself largely resembles the essential meanings of caritas, such as love, charity, favor, kindness, and benevolence. According to Aleni, the profit-seeking love and the emotional love may be achieved even among evil and ignorant people, yet only the most virtuous people – “saints and sages” – can attain the benevolent love. Just as caritas is a cardinal virtue in Christianity, ren’ai is considered a major virtue in Confucian terms. By highlighting the similar aspects, Aleni clearly intends to develop a new composite theory of love that crosses the boundaries of Christian spirituality and Confucian morality. As we can see in Kouduo richao, Aleni continuously promotes his syncretic theory of love. For example, on March 29, 1636, the convert Chen Jingming raises a doubt as to whether the Lord of Heaven’s love is greater than parental love. In response, Aleni lists seven points to prove that the Lord of Heaven leads human beings to do good. He then brings forth the Christian concept of free will: The Lord wants all people to be good, but he has preferred not to force them to be good, not because his power is limited, but because he in principle has chosen to do so. In this way, his great love would be manifested more clearly.173 The Christian–Confucian love of humanity motivated Fujian converts to carry on a variety of benevolent works. Their spiritual and moral learning deepened and broadened in daily life. Interestingly, Aleni’s instructions seem to be predominant in this respect. A few weeks after the exchange on the three types of love, Lin Yijun and his master discussed the relationship between one’s benevolent works in this life and the degrees of rewards in Heaven. Aleni brings forth the concept of grace, i.e., e’lajiya 額 辣 濟 亞 (i.e., gracia). Originally bestowed by the Lord as a gift without good works, admission to Heaven depends on a person’s efforts to accumulate good works after receiving grace. 174 On another occasion, Aleni receives a licentiate (wenxue 文學) in Haikou. He says that people should make efforts to perform good works in response to the Supreme Lord’s grace. Merely not doing evil, as the licentiate argues, does not

172

For a historical analysis of St. Augustine’s theory on the Christian concept of love and its later develoment in medieval theology, see Nygren 1953, pp. 449-562; 638-658.

173

KDRC, pp. 431-433; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 511-512.

174

KDRC, pp. 240-241; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 374-375.

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necessarily lead to goodness. In this way one would rather not be able to escape from the Lord’s anger at the end.175 Love in action is one of the most debated topics among Aleni and his converts. In one conversation on June 16, 1637, Aleni asks the local converts in Yongchun about the good works they have done in the past year. A convert surnamed Yang, who is a physician, says that he has offered medicines to the poor and the sick. Aleni praises this good work, but he goes on to argue that medicine to cure spiritual diseases should be more important than medicine to cure physical diseases. This is followed by a mild criticism of the converts, who did not devote themselves to spiritual training and made few efforts to persuade their family members to convert.176 During his second visit to Zhangzhou in 1637, Aleni specifically focuses on the fourteen works of mercy in his instructions to the converts. Charity has been considered an essential part of Catholic life in medieval Europe.177 Aquinas, for example, offers a detailed analysis of these almsdeeds in Summa Theologiae.178 Based on this tradition, Giacomo Rho in his Aijin xingquan (Explanatory Notes on the Fourteen Works of Mercy, 1633) describes many exempla to correspond to each almsdeed. 179 Rho’s text is certainly one of Aleni’s source books in teaching his convert disciples. On this occasion, Aleni follows Aquina in saying that spiritual almsdeeds are better than the corporeal ones. Those lacking financial means may not be able to feed the hungry and give the thirsty to drink, but works to exhort the doubtful and comfort the afflicted could be done by both rich and poor alike. When a convert asks about someone who would not comply with his advice, Aleni quotes from Rho’s Aijin xingquan: Set an example by action rather than words alone, and people can easily accept without suspicion and fear.180 The arguments of Aleni clearly reinforce the view of St. Ignatius, who stresses that “love ought to manifest itself in deeds rather than words” in the 175

KDRC, pp. 375-376; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 471-472.

176

KDRC, pp. 508-509; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 561-562.

177

The fourteen works of mercy are normally divided into two parts, corporeal and spiritual. The seven corporeal works of mercy are: 1. to feed the hungry; 2. to give drink to the thirsty; 3. to clothe the naked; 4. to harbor the harborless; 5. to visit the sick; 6. to ransom the captive; 7. to bury the dead. The seven spiritual works of mercy are: 1. to instruct the ignorant; 2. to counsel the doubtful; 3. to admonish sinners; 4. to bear wrongs patiently; 5. to forgive offences willingly; 6. to comfort the afflicted; 7. to pray for the living and the dead. See “Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy,” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/ 10198d.htm (accessed May 29, 2017).

178

Summa Theologiae, 2a2æ, Q. 32, vol. 34, pp. 236-273.

179

Rho directly mentions Aquinas’ name and division of the corporeal and the spiritual by seven, but his translation of the fourteen Chinese headings seems to be based on early Jesuits works, for example, Shengjing yuelu. See AJXQ, p. 77. For Rho’s life and works, see Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, pp. 188-191.

180

KDRC, p. 517; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 566-567. For Rho’s argument, see AJXQ, pp. 179-180.

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Exercitia Spiritualia. 181 As a matter of fact, the early Jesuits in Europe made great efforts to carry out the works of mercy in their devotional life. 182 When instructing his converts, Aleni follows the same approach the Jesuit founders have developed decades ago, but with conscious adaptations to the Chinese context. Through spiritual exercises such as contemplations, confessions, and prayers, the converts may develop full love to the Lord of Heaven, or filial piety to the Great Father-Mother (da fumu). They will be motivated to help other people with physical and spiritual needs, thus obtaining another kind of merit – benevolent love for others. 4.3.3. Austerity to One’s Self

Besides the Christian–Confucian type of love, one has to follow a routine of austere self-examination and self-correction. This was the third merit that Aleni highlighted in his instruction. He says: Man is inclined to be severe and thorough when rebuking others, and to be casual and superficial when rebuking himself. He who really controls himself acts differently. Early and late he investigates his conduct, and if there is the slightest fault he cannot bear to condone it; he only feels at ease when the balance drawn up in the evening is not an occasion of regret. If you are capable of this, I am convinced that your virtues will grow and your faults will decrease day by day.183

To Aleni, this last merit is particularly important, because it leads to the initial stage of a spiritual training that connects Catholic doctrine with Confucian thought. In his skillful use of such terms as “virtue” and “fault,” Aleni unmistakably grasped the core of Confucian moral learning. The examination of one’s conduct on a daily basis has been a preferred exercise since the early Confucians, as reflected in Zeng Shen’s 曾參 (505–435 B.C.E.) well-known saying “Every day I examine myself on three points.”184 The importance of self-examination in the process of moral perfection was also stressed in the teachings of Song and Ming Neo-Confucians. Zhu Xi, for example, differentiated cunyang 存養 (i.e., cunxin yangxing 存心養性, keeping the original mind and cultivating the nature) and xingcha 省察 (self-examination) by referring to the former as efforts in a tranquil mode while the latter are efforts in an active mode.185 However, he would admonish his disciples that these two modes of efforts were not mutually exclusive. They should be carried out constantly and simultaneously in one’s moral cultivation. Wang Shouren likewise promoted the integration of cunyang and xingcha. The statement “Xingcha is a kind of cunyang at work, and cunyang is a kind of xingcha at ease” certainly 181

Ganss 1992, p. 94.

182

For the early Jesuits’ works of mercy, see O’Malley 1993, pp. 165-199.

183

KDRC, pp. 461-462; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 527.

184

Waley 1989, p. 84.

185

SKQS, vol. 701, p. 243.

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reinforced his influential theory of zhi xing heyi 知行合一 (unity of knowledge and action).186 Bearing the authoritative Confucian interpretations in mind, one may easily take Aleni’s words as yet another Confucian-style saying to help one maintain the well-being of the self. The Jesuits’ spiritual exercises thus merged with the Confucian tradition. The spiritual and moral learning, whether for a Confucian or for Aleni, had to go through a process of self-examination leading towards one’s confession and correction of faults and sins. In this sense, Aleni’s emphasis on austerity to the self reflected the approach of the early Jesuits who would take Confucian moral training as a preparatory stage for a deeper level of Christian spiritual training. His purpose was threefold: to attract more non-believers, especially literati; to prepare the neophytes for a committed religious life after baptism; and to help the faithful maintain a spiritual communion. This training process not only lay at the core of Ignatian contemplative life, but it also corresponded to a Confucian mode of reflective self-cultivation. The premise for the Jesuit “overcoming nature,” or the Confucian “overcoming one’s self,” was that one had to be aware of one’s sin or fault before feeling the need to overcome it. Therefore, how to retain a serious attitude towards faults and sins was a much debated topic among Aleni, his confreres, and Fujian converts. On November 26, 1631, a convert from Putian asks Aleni why people living in the midst of faults every day still feel at ease as if they have done nothing wrong. Aleni replies with a comparison between examining the self and guarding a city. The five facial organs of a man are like the five gates of the city. If the guards do not watch carefully, wrongdoers may sneak into the city. Likewise, if a man is not careful enough, faults may sneak in without notice. Hence, one should examine the self all the time to avoid the infiltration of any evil thought, speech, and conduct.187 On another occasion, Aleni is asked why the Lord of Heaven would not grant mercy to the condemned ones in Hell, while in Buddhism they can possibly reincarnate if they accumulate good karma. Of course, Aleni would not concur that eternal suffering in Hell was at odds with the Lord’s love for men. Instead, he argues, that is because some people from youth till death would never correct their faults and sins despite the Lord’s great patience in waiting for them to repent.188 In these cases, Aleni clearly indicates the importance of self-examination to solve various kinds of problems, be it in this life or in the afterlife. What about any transgressions made by a Chinese convert? According to Kouduo richao, this question was raised by the scholar Lin wenxue 林文學 in

186

省察是有事時的存養, 存養是無事時的省察。See Wing-tsit Chan 1983, p. 72.

187

KDRC, pp. 156-157; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 311-312.

188

KDRC, pp. 147-148; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 303-304.

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Haikou. 189 Lin may have noted that there are converts who did not faithfully follow the Christian doctrines. He wonders whether the Christian religion is indeed a perfect teaching. Aleni answers: Generally speaking believers only rarely commit grave transgressions. Occasionally there may be some whose moral conduct is not yet pure, but they also know the method to correct it and the way to obtain forgiveness. With those who have not heard about the Way [it is different]: if they commit transgressions they are not aware of it; if they are aware of it they do not change their conduct, and even if they do so they cannot obtain forgiveness.190

Here Aleni refers to the Catholic debate on whether some saved souls might still fall away from the faith. In 16th-century Europe, there was a controversial issue on the “perseverance of the saints” (also known as “once saved, always saved”) between Calvinists and the Roman Catholic Church. The former insisted that no one who was really saved could turn away from the faith, thus those who fell away must not have been saved in the first place. On the contrary, the latter argued that some might still fall away, but supposedly they could recover by way of God’s grace accompanied by their own efforts in self-corrections and good works. When dealing with converts who commit faults and sins, Aleni consciously adds a Confucian flavor to his admonition. He assures them that there is always hope for forgiveness from the Lord, yet they must examine their self and correct their faults thereafter. On one occasion, a convert comes up to him and confesses that he was enticed by the devil and nearly fell into a heretic religion. In consoling the worried penitent, Aleni says: Unless a man is a saint or a sage, how can he be perfect in all things? It is normal for him to commit faults. If you “when having faults do not fear to correct them,” they will cease to exist. Therefore a saint of old times has said: “Committing sins is something human; not having them absolved is something of the devil.” If you have faults and you hasten to correct them, it is something of people belonging to heaven above, so why should you be ashamed and sad?191

Here Aleni borrows two well-known sayings, one Confucian and the other Christian, to render his argument persuasive. He first quotes Confucius’ words from the Lunyu: “[a gentleman] should be loyal and faithful and make no friend who is not like him. If he has made a mistake, he must not be afraid of correcting it.” 192 This moralistic saying is followed by a Catholic proverb in which confession is said to be an important step to cleanse the sins that one committed. By converging these moral and spiritual proverbs, Aleni constructs his image as 189

Wenxue is Lin’s title, and it normally refers to an educational official in the territorial administration. See Hucker 1985, p. 567. Lin has been identified by Lin Jinshui as Lin Chaolong 林朝龍. See Lin Jinshui 1996, p. 188.

190

KDRC, p. 130; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 287.

191

KDRC, p. 485; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 546.

192

Waley 1989, p. 85. I have made a few changes in the translation.

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both a Catholic priest and a Confucian master, or teacher par excellence. His double identity also confirms that the Jesuits’ ministry of confession has gradually emerged as a legitimate priestly duty in the 1620s.193 If faults and sins, be they trivial or serious, must be censored, confessed and corrected, there are opposite virtues for one’s self-reflection. Pantoja’s Qike lists qide 七德 (the seven virtues) – modesty (qianrang 謙讓), benevolent love (ren’ai 仁愛), charity (shecai 捨財), fortitude (hanren 含忍), temperance (danbo 淡泊), abstinence ( jueyu 絕欲), and persistence in service to the Lord of Heaven (qin yu Tianzhu zhi shi 勤於天主之事) – in contrast with the seven cardinal sins. 194 These virtues are not systematically introduced by Aleni and other Jesuits; however, other virtues are mentioned in Kouduo richao. On one occasion, Aleni lists the seven blessings of the Holy Spirit – respect-and-awe, joyful submissiveness, wisdom, firmness, prudence, understanding, and superior wisdom – to contrast them with the seven cardinal sins. The blessings elevate a man to a bright and happy place, while the sins lead him to go downward to a dark and dangerous place.195 De Mattos and Li Jiubiao also have a discussion on the four cardinal virtues – wisdom, righteousness, courage, and moderation – which de Mattos considers to be the origin of all other virtues.196 However, compared with overcoming sins in man’s nature, the promotion of the above virtues seems to be a secondary concern of the Jesuits. To them, without God’s grace these virtues cannot be seen as virtues. This is affirmed by Aleni in the aforementioned instruction to Lin Yijun on the benevolent works. One may put much effort into realizing different kinds of virtues, but they cannot be solely relied upon for one’s final salvation. Otherwise, the process would become an individualistic learning of self-perfection. This indicates the departing point between Jesuits and Confucians. Though the Jesuits in adapting to the mainstream Confucian thought would argue that human nature was originally good and there was a possibility to change from evil to good, the fundamental Christian doctrine of original sin forced them to take a cautious attitude towards self-perfection, which remained the ultimate goal of most late Ming Confucian scholars.

4.4. Building a Spiritual Temple inside the Mind On September 24, 1636, Giulio Aleni gives a homily to local converts in Haikou on how to build “a temple of the Holy Spirit” inside the mind. By this time he had been working in China for two decades, making friends with literati and officials, publishing works about the Tianxue, and traveling across China to 193

For more discussions on the liturgical practice of confession, see Chapter 5.3.2.

194

Qike (TXCH), pp. 715-716. Note that these are not exactly the seven virtues discussed by Aquinas, i.e., the four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance) and the three theological virtues (charity, and faith, hope). See Summa Theologiae, 1a2æ, Q. 61 & Q. 62, vol. 23, pp. 116-149.

195

KDRC, pp. 481-484; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 544.

196

KDRC, pp. 398-399; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 487.

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spread the Gospel. During the past ten years of the Fujian mission, he had also paid particular attention to training the local converts to achieve spiritual and moral perfection. After pointing out that the converts may obtain merit by building the new church, Aleni turns to the deeper analogy of construction within the spirit: However, now that the external church has been built, it has become even more urgent to build a temple inside yourselves. Therefore Saint Paul has said: “Within your heart you must establish a temple of Spiritus Sanctus.” What does that mean? In the construction of an external church there are three stages. The first one is “clearing the site.” Before the church is built the site is no more than a piece of fallow land. We must exterminate the weeds and creepers and level the site, to make it a suitable foundation for the church. Secondly: “setting up the building [elements].” Once the foundation has been laid, workmen are gathered and building materials provided. All the wooden and stone elements of the hall, the inner apartments and the walls are produced according to the rules and made ready in the right order. Thirdly: “assembling the parts.” When all that work has been done, the elements are joined together one by one, from the lesser and main roof beams, the brackets and roof pillars down to doors, windows and terrace steps. Then the church has been completed. Now in building the inner temple there are the same three stages. Before conversion a person is tainted with all kinds of rotten words and evil practices, but once he has been baptized and has entered our religion his former sins are washed away; that is “clearing the site.” After baptism he goes on establishing merit in many ways, investigating and subduing himself, so that all the acts of loving the Lord and loving others are there: that is “setting up the building elements.” When all that good merit has been established, it still is necessary that in thought, word and deed he acts in harmony with the Lord’s intention, speaking in accordance with his words and acting in accordance with his deeds, without for a single moment becoming separated from the Supreme Lord; that is “[assembling and] harmonizing.” When these three stages have been completed the inner temple is ready and waiting for the coming of the Supreme Lord.197

In this homily Aleni presents an interesting comparison between a physical, exterior church and a spiritual, inner temple, the latter referring to the Apostle Paul’s words in his epistle to the early Corinthian Church.198 The three steps in building a temple may sound familiar to the listeners, for the construction of a traditional Chinese wooden house follows very similar steps.199 What makes this 197

KDRC, pp. 441-443; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 518-519. I have changed Zürcher’s translation “inner church” to “inner temple.” The Latin Vulgate Bible gives two words ecclesiam and templum, which shall be translated as “church” and “temple” respectively in English.

198

1 Cor: 3:16, 6:19. Paul’s words are not repeated literally by Aleni. For Paul, the temple is inside one’s body (membra vestra templum est Spiritus Sancti qui in vobis), but for Aleni it is inside one’s mind.

199

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 519-520.

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general experience particularly meaningful is its connection with the perfection of the mind. It appeals to the mindset of a late Ming Confucian, who is familiar with Mencius’ concept of the four beginning virtues and with the notion of the mind seen as a sprout to be nourished and cultivated. Neither is he ignorant of Wang Shouren’s Buddhist-tainted view that nothing in the world is outside the mind, whose function of knowing the good from the bad lies in one’s innate knowledge. Aleni’s projection of a physical construction onto a spiritual one differs from those of Mencius and Wang Shouren, as it has a biblical origin and is rooted in the scholastic tradition of Catholic theology. Though unspecified, Aleni’s explanation of the spiritual construction of the mind clearly refers to the medieval concept of the Three Ways discussed the works of Bonaventure and Aquinas. 200 It divides the spiritual life into the purgative way, the illuminative way, and finally, the unitive way. The purgative way is for beginners who have obtained divine justification but have to cleanse the soul by fighting against passions, temptations, and other sins. The illuminative way is for those who make progress and become enlightened, keeping themselves from the mortal sins, practicing virtues, and focusing the mind on God. The unitive way is for those who in a state of perfection transcend all temporal things (temptations, desires, and passions, etc.), fix the mind on God at all times, and achieve an intimate union with Him.201 The resemblance between the Three Ways and Aleni’s three steps of eradication, founding, and assembling is quite obvious. In other words, he tries to transplant this established Catholic formula from its European context to the Chinese context, in which the central concern has been redirected to the spiritual progress of those newly saved souls in Fujian Catholic communities. Though unaware of the theological undertone in Aleni’s metaphor, the converts could still visualize the three stages that they should go through for spiritual perfection. When talking about this three-stage progress, Aleni must also have had in mind the Ignatian spiritual training that he once received in the Jesuit College in Rome. In the Exercitia Spiritualia, St. Ignatius’ four-week contemplation design coincides with the Three Ways in the sense that it moves from reflection and confession of past sins, to meditation on Christ’s life, crucifixion, and resurrection, and finally to contemplation on the love and grace of the Lord.202 We have previously discussed that, during his stay in Hangzhou between 1615 and 1624, Aleni started to introduce this type of spiritual exercise to the eminent literati convert Yang Tingyun. Yang appreciated the retreat and self-examination of the Jesuits, so he chose certain days to seclude himself from worldly affairs. Under the guidance of Master Ai [i.e. Aleni], Yang meditated in a quiet room to

200

201 202

See Bonaventure’s “The Triple Way, or Love Enkindled,” in De Vinck 1960, vol. 1, pp. 59-94. For Aquinas’ comments on the concept, see Summa Theologiae, 2a2æ, Q. 183, a. 4. “State or Way,” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14254a.htm (accessed March 12, 2018). O’Malley 1993, pp. 37-50.

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practice self-examination, confession, and spiritual communication with the Lord of Heaven.203 Yang’s special interest in Jesuit spiritual exercises should be put into the broader context of late Ming religious synthesis. It has been mentioned before that Confucianism and Buddhism were involved in a process of active interaction and negotiation in the second half of the Ming dynasty. The meditative practices, called jingzuo 靜坐 (quiet sitting) by Neo-Confucian scholars and zuochan 坐禪 (sitting in meditation) by Chan masters, were a key concern in both schools.204 Yang was once a devout Buddhist believer. Being a Confucian scholar, he decided to convert from Buddhism to Christianity for many reasons.205 One factor was the emphasis on a meditative life and its realization outside a monastic environment which can be seen in secular Buddhist teaching in late Ming China as well as the Ignatian training of individual spiritual exercises in 16th-century Europe. This parallel may have partly facilitated Yang’s conversion and made him regard the Jesuits’ model of contemplation favorably. As this example suggests, under the opportune circumstances of the late Ming religious synthesis, Aleni and other Jesuits stepped in offering an alternative method for Confucian literati to cultivate the mind. The method was both practical and strategic, because at the end a convert could realize the perfect stage of a Confucian sage and of a Christian saint at the same time. For the same reasons, the local Fujian converts showed much interest in spiritual exercises. Aleni’s instruction provided a general guideline for them to make progress in their spiritual and moral learning. As we can see in Kouduo richao, the Jesuit masters and convert disciples engage in specific discussions on the spiritual construction of the mind, including ways to examine the mind with austerity, to overcome temptations and desires, to remain focused in the mind and cleanse improper ideas, to contemplate on the wonderful mysteries of Christ’s life, and to unite spiritually with the incarnated Lord in both desolation and consolation. Through their dialogic exchanges, a hybrid Christian–Confucian spiritual life gradually took shape in the Catholic communities of late Ming Fujian. 4.4.1. Overcoming Temptations and Desires

Since the mid-1630s, Aleni began to pay more attention to the examination of the self in his Fujian mission. A convert should follow his instructions to carry out the critical examination of the mind, speech, and behavior on a daily basis. The primary goal was to purge all sins and faults, both past and present, thus taking the first step of “eradication” to build a “spiritual temple inside the mind.” The targets of eradication normally include a series of temptations and desires, as one 203

Yang Qiyuan, pp. 227-228.

204

Rong Zhaozu 1982, pp. 35-44, 76-81, 301-304.

205

On the reasons for Yang Tingyun’s conversion, see Standaert 1988, pp. 51-94; Peterson 1988, pp. 130-137.

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can easily find in exemplary conversations from Kouduo richao. In Aleni’s mind, to remove sinful thoughts was nothing else but the fulfillment of austerity to the self. This type of spiritual purgation, as he would expect, was often associated with the sacrament of confession that had been newly introduced to the Catholic communities in Fujian.206 One of the temptations that Aleni kept warning his converts about was pride, the first among the seven cardinal sins. Within the Confucian tradition, pride has always been deprecated relative to the virtue of modesty. It was also a key factor separating a superior man ( junzi 君子) from an inferior man (xiaoren 小人), as Confucius said: “The superior man has a dignified ease without pride. The inferior man has pride without a dignified ease.”207 From the Jesuit point of view, this distinction appeared to be insufficient. If a man’s spiritual or moral training was without the Lord’s grace and the guidance of a priest, it was unlikely to eradicate the sin of pride in both a theological sense and a practical sense. As we see in Kouduo richao, the converts are constantly reminded by their Jesuit master about this point. For example, on August 6, 1634, Aleni during a visit to Fuqing gives a homily to the local converts. He borrows the biblical exemplum that Jesus used to criticize self-righteousness: a man who was a falisai’e 發利塞俄 (i.e., Pharisee) and a sinner entered the church. The Pharisee stood upright and prayed before the Lord, saying that he has followed all regulations and did not commit such crimes as stealing and adultery, therefore not being filthy like the sinner. The sinner, on the contrary, humbly made kowtow and dared not to look up, blaming himself bitterly and begging for mercy and forgiveness from the Lord. Aleni’s account reveals a few changes that again suggest his selective transmission of a religious message. First, the “tax collector” in the original story becomes an unknown “sinner.” Second, the “tax collector” stands far from the altar and beats his chest, while the “sinner” kneels down to show obedience by a kowtow. Third, Aleni does not repeat Jesus’ last words that “everyone who exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” He instead contrasts the two opposite ideas, purity vis-à-vis filthiness, for a conclusion: That Pharisee was clean when he entered the hall and dirty when he left it; that sinner was dirty when he entered and clean when he left, for the most venerable Supreme Lord loves humility and hates arrogance. The Pharisee was satisfied with his own merit, but all his merit turned into a ladder leading to sin. The sinner repented of his sins, and all his sins turned into a store of merit.208

Though Aleni still focuses on the contrast between the sin of pride and the virtue of humility, he consciously or unconsciously points out the ritual component of a 206

KDRC, pp. 484-485; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 545. Aleni blames a few converts for not being sincere to confess at the time of a feast, and warns them that by their delay in purging sins through confession they may fail to obtain the grace of the Lord.

207

Legge 2001, vol. I, p. 274. I have changed Legge’s translation “mean man” to “inferior man.”

208

KDRC, p. 392; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 482.

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spiritual purgation. Whether in baptism or confession, the converts may cleanse their sins in a Chinese manner, namely, by performing kowtow to the Lord of Heaven.209 Concerning the origin of the sin of pride, Aleni explains to his converts that it started with the fallen angels. They were once endowed with a pure and beautiful nature from the Lord of Heaven. As soon as they went against His will, they turned themselves into devils. They received the most severe punishments in Hell, not because they did evil things such as theft and adultery but because they relied upon their own ability and indulged the growth of arrogance in their mind. Now that man is many times less talented than the angels, Aleni argues, how could he be arrogant, self-satisfied, disobedient to the Lord, and turn toward the devil?210 By tracing the origin of the sin, Aleni intends to completely remove it from the spiritual construction of the mind. Based on such a standard, even if people do a thing out of good intent, it might turn out to be one more example of the sin of pride. No wonder Aleni often advises his converts on practical morality. For example, he states that it is inappropriate to boast about the founding of a religious society as ones’ own efforts.211 On another occasion, a convert urged his father to do virtuous deeds, yet his words were so drastic that his father became very angry. To Aleni, this is also a serious sin, i.e., unfilial pride.212 The cardinal sin of greed is also a topic frequently discussed in Kouduo richao. In a long homily on June 18, 1634, Aleni tells the converts a parable given by Jesus: A wealthy man prepared a banquet and ordered his servant to invite the guests, but those being invited made all kinds of excuses to decline the invitation. The furious man asked his servants to go all over the city and invite paupers, tramps, cripples, deaf and blind people, and small farmers to enjoy the copious banquet. Those who excused themselves for either buying new fields or an ox, Aleni says, refer to people who crave money. The Lord would not abandon them, but they distance themselves from the Lord. After this parable, Aleni quotes the words of St. Peter comparing a greedy man to a demonworshipper. 213 To balance this somewhat extreme point, he quotes a saying of Jesus on man’s basic needs for life: One does not need to worry about daily food, for even the birds are nourished by the Lord of Heaven.214 The key point is not that one should discard all of one’s money, but rather not place too much value on it. 209

There are some differences between Aleni’s and Pantoja’s versions of the same story. In Qike, Pantoja identifies the Pharisee as a wise and noble man and the tax collector as a rogue. He also gives more elaborate comments comparing the noble man’s sin of pride and the rogue’s merit of humility. See Qike (TXCH), pp. 732-733.

210

KDRC, pp. 392-393; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 483.

211

KDRC, p. 226; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 363.

212

KDRC, pp. 459-460; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 526.

213

KDRC, p. 350; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 453. Zürcher thinks the statement of Saint Peter is reminiscent of Mt 6:24, but the reference does not look convincing.

214

See Mt 6:24-34.

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Aleni certainly knows the difficulty of overcoming one’s desire for money, so he tells another story. A man from his home country was enticed by the devil and stopped making donations every Sunday. Later his foot developed a large ulcer, and he was unable to manage his business. He had to spend all of his savings in paying doctors and medicine. Only after he repented to the Lord and gave alms to the poor again did he get cured and earned a surplus to what he used to have before.215 The majority of Chinese converts in Fujian may have lived a life of modest means. While relating to their keen concerns about livelihood, Aleni consciously ties the practical need to overcome greed with an exaltation of the virtue of faithfulness. Among the other cardinal sins, lust is sometimes specified as a hideous temptation for one to overcome in daily spiritual and moral training. Aleni and his confreres in Fujian are very keen about this aspect, partly due to its connection with the established Chinese custom of concubinage. It will be discussed in the next chapter how the Jesuits and the Chinese engaged in debates on this controversial custom. Here we mainly focus on their dialogic exchanges on the sin of lust in general, as well as their promotion of the virtue of chastity. On July 16, 1632, Chen guangwen 陳廣文 visits Aleni and Yan Weisheng in Xianyou.216 During the conversation, a well-dressed woman unexpectedly shows up, and Yan bows his head. After a while, Chen takes this occasion to ask Yan for a reason for his behavior. Yan replies that he dares not look at that woman not because other people are present, but he did not dare to look at her while being alone as well, simply for fear that the Lord of Heaven could be angry about such improper behavior. Chen argues that there is no harm to watch a woman as long as a man has no improper thought. Yan replies with two well-known phrases of Confucius: “no grinding can wear [truly hard things] down” and “no steeping can make [truly white things] black.”217 Since Yan does not see himself as a sage with a truly “hard” and “white” character, he cannot guarantee that his mind will not be confused in looking at a woman. The second comment is made by Aleni, who compares the examination of the five senses to the guarding of the gates of a city. To follow his master’s instruction, Yan should be careful not to let evil 215

KDRC, pp. 351-352; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 454.

216

Guangwen is the title for educational officials. See Hucker 1985, p. 288. Chen has been identified as Chen Zhongdan 陳衷丹, with the courtesy name Kuibo 葵伯. See Lin Jinshui 1996, p. 192; Dudink 1997, p. 193; Pan Feng-chuan 2002, p. 106; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 357.

217

Waley 1989, p. 211. For a proper understanding of the context of this metaphor, I quote Waley’s translation here (the romanized names are changed from Wade-Giles to Pinyin): “Bi Xi summoned the Master, and he would have liked to go. But Zilu said, I remember your once saying, ‘Into the house of one who is in his own person doing what is evil, the gentleman will not enter.’ Bi Xi is holding Zhongmou in revolt. How can you think of going to him? The Master said, It is true that there is such a saying. But is it not also said that there are things ‘So hard that no grinding will ever wear them down,’ that there are things ‘So white that no steeping will even make them black’? Am I indeed to be forever like the bitter gourd that is only fit to hang up, but not to eat?”

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desires sneak in his mind. 218 If the Chinese master (i.e., Confucius) sets up a model for Yan to resist secular temptations, the Western master (i.e. Aleni) gives practicable guidance as an alternative for him to subdue the self. With a mixture of these two authoritative voices, Yan consciously assumes a hybrid Christian– Confucian identity in his spiritual and moral learning. After praising Yan’s strict observation of the moral rules, Chen asks Aleni whether an old master like him might not need to follow the same rules. Aleni does not give Chen a straight answer, but tells a story about a worthy man in his home country instead. This man attended a banquet. When a beautiful woman passed by, no one else dared to look at her except the worthy man. He stared at her for a long time and then started weeping. The others were shocked and asked for the reason. The worthy man replied that it was because the woman spent all her efforts to please people, but he had not yet done his best to please the Lord of Heaven. He felt he was even inferior to the woman, and this was why he was moved to tears.219 On this special occasion, Aleni tends to support what Yan has said about the highest Confucian virtue, namely, to remain firm and pure despite external influences. But he meanwhile suggests how to accomplish this in one’s spiritual learning. If one constantly holds in mind the Lord of Heaven, he may transcend sexual desire. Once again, we notice a superposition of voices in this dialogic exchange, in which a composite Christian–Confucian identify is reaffirmed. 4.4.2. Fundamentals of Contemplative Life

In fact, how to remain unmoved in the mind and keep it away from disturbance is one of the essential parts in the Jesuit spiritual training. Kouduo richao records an interesting dialogue on this subject between Aleni and two local literati at Yongchun, Guo juncheng 郭郡丞 and Lin taixue 林太學.220 Guo first asks Aleni: “The practice of preserving and nurturing [the mind] according to your doctrine is very strict; I truly admire it. But the mind easily runs away – what to do about it?” The word cunyang Guo refers to is a short form of cunxin yangxing, a key component of Confucian reflective learning often combined with the practice of jingzuo. Clearly, Guo wonders if the Jesuit style of contemplation may be compared to similar practices in Confucianism. Aleni replies: “The mind does not easily run away; that only happens if I set it free and allow it to run. If you preserve it every moment and do not release it; if you constantly hold it in check and do not let it escape, then how can it break free?”221 Here he does not directly refer to a Confucian classic to support his argument, but his point does show the 218

KDRC, pp. 217-219.

219

Ibid., p. 219; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 356-357.

220

Juncheng refers to Guo’s title, namely, Vice Prefect. See Hucker 1985, p. 200. Lin Jinshui has identified Guo as Guo Weihan 郭維翰 and Lin as Lin Jun 林焌, see Lin Jinshui 1996, pp. 192, 194.

221

KDRC, pp. 214-215; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 353.

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correspondence between Christianity and Confucianism on the proper way to control the mind. However, for similar questions raised by his convert disciples, Aleni tends to give more straightforward spiritual advice on how to get rid of whimsical thoughts in contemplation. Kouduo richao records two conversations on this specific topic dated to 1639, one on August 29 and the other on September 23. In the first conversation, he teaches the Chen brothers to think of the Lord of Heaven and praise the Lord’s grace all the time. Then he gives two examples about St. Ignatius’ own contemplative life. First, when St. Ignatius visited a garden and smelled the aroma of a flower, he looked up to heaven and praises the Lord’s creation of beautiful things to delight man. The second example, which has been discussed in Chapter Two, describes how St. Ignatius contemplated the Lord all the time and castigated himself as being beast-like when he was interrupted for a short moment. In order to affirm the effectiveness of this mode of contemplation, Aleni gives a third example, in which a xiushi by praising the Lord’s wonderful creation of beauty is able to easily subdue the evil desire that often bothered him in the past.222 In the second conversation, Li Jiubiao raises the same question. He seems to notice that it is easier to examine speech and action than to control the mind. The problem, he admits, appears even when he prays to the Lord in a serious manner. Aleni explains this by referring to the stain of original sin in man’s soul. And his solution sounds very similar to the one given for the Chen brothers: if it is impossible for one to maintain one’s pure mind through one’s own effort, one has to pray for the blessing of the Lord. Li then asks whether the saints have to face distracting thoughts in their contemplations as well. By comparing distracting thoughts to a swarm of flies, Aleni says that it is unlikely for them to go away. However, as far as one is not troubled by them and keeps them under control, it will be all right.223 The dialogues above suggest that some local converts have reached the illuminative state, or in Aleni’s words, the foundation stage. On the one hand, they continue to make progress in self-examination and good works, thus keeping away from the mortal sins. But they still were disturbed at times by venial sins, especially by distracting thoughts and desires. Both types of sins, in the Ignatian spiritual training, should be conquered as part of the general examination of conscience to purify one’s thought, word, and behavior. The process of selfexamination consists of key points such as praising the Lord and asking for grace and pardon, similar to Aleni’s advice to the baffled converts quoted above.224 On the other hand, as a mentor Aleni uses exempla of the saints to provide his disciples with an essential source of inspiration to help improve their spiritual and practical learning. The contemplative exercises therefore became part of the 222

KDRC, pp. 568-571; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 601.

223

KDRC, pp. 570-573; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 602-603.

224

Ganss 1992, p. 38.

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accumulated efforts of Aleni and Fujian converts to strive for spiritual perfection over the 1630s. During the late 1630s, Aleni did not only teach his convert disciples how to suppress whimsical ideas in contemplation, he also started to train them in the proper ways to meditate on the mysteries of the life of Christ. One advantageous factor for their spiritual training was publication of Aleni’s tripartite works on Christ’s life, which were specifically adapted to Ignatian spiritual exercises. Step by step the Fujian converts became aware of the fundamental training of the Jesuits, and also participated in this internalized spiritual journey towards the final union with the incarnated Lord of Heaven. On March 21, 1636, Aleni gives a homily to the local converts in Yongchun. Because it is Good Friday, the homily naturally leads to a discussion on how to contemplate the mystery of crucifixion: However, here are some themes for silent reflection. Question: “Who is the one who suffers today?” Answer: “The most venerable, the most powerful one.” Question: “What suffering does he undergo?” Answer: “The most shameful, the most bitter one.” [Question:] “Now why does the most venerable one undergo the most shameful punishment; why does the most powerful one undergo the most bitter suffering?” Answer: “Only because of his supreme goodness, his supreme love; only in order to redeem my sins and to save me.” [Question:] “So when facing this situation, how should we exert ourselves?” Answer: “We must feel utter remorse and utter gratitude.” “And how should we try to show our gratitude?” Answer: “Through our deepest feelings of love and respect: love, because we love his supreme goodness; respect, because we respect his religious commandments.”225

This brief catechetical instruction actually consists of three steps. The first two questions reveal a fact, the third one aims at reasoning, and the last two demand emotional reactions. St. Ignatius’ Exercitia Spiritualia contains three key points on the event of the crucifixion, but without explanation on how one can proceed to the next stage of contemplation. 226 The reason for this is understandable, because one of the major functions of this work was to serve as a teacher’s manual rather than a student’s textbook. Based on these key points, a priest was able to explain them in flexible ways so that the exercises could be tailored to different patterns for neophytes from different backgrounds. In this case, Aleni probably prefers a catechetical pattern as an easy exercise for local converts in Fujian. In the last volume of Kouduo richao, we see an exemplar case that explicitly reveals how the Chinese converts took Jesuit contemplation as the center of their

225

KDRC, pp. 425-426; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 507. I have used Zürcher’s translation with slight changes.

226

Ganss 1992, p. 115.

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Christian life. It is dated July 2, 1640, the feast day for Virgin Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.227 Aleni begins with a general statement: In religious work some profit is gained by reciting scriptures and reading books, but not very much: the most important is reflection. However, reflection comprises three activities: remembering the event, investigating the principles involved, and giving rise to feelings. When these three are present the work of reflection is complete.228

Apparently, the three points Aleni stresses here are in line with the three steps suggested in the above homily, as well as in Exercitia Spiritualia. The distinct threefold process may also be related to the influential Augustinian trinity of the human mind: memory, understanding, and will.229 To actualize the process, Aleni engages the converts in further discussions. He explains the mystery of the Visitation to refresh their memory, and then asks each of the seven converts present to reflect on its principles and express their affections. Five of their answers are commented on by Aleni. For example, Li Jiubiao focuses on the four virtues of the Holy Mother: chastity, love, diligence, and modesty. Aleni offers a brief comment, “Yes, you can spend your whole life imitating just one of these without fully realizing it; let alone all four!” Another convert, Chen Jian 陳鑑, replies, because the Holy Mother is the Mother of all people, to correct one’s evil ways and return to goodness should be appropriate to fulfill Her will.230 Aleni comments on this by referring to the popular Chinese concept of family fame: “You may compare it with a son: if a son is wise and capable he adds to his parents’ fame; if he is unwise and incapable he brings disgrace upon them. These two differ widely from each other: whom do you choose to follow?” 231 In conclusion, he praises all the remarks, but adds yet another point: since Mary visits Elisabeth with caring concern, the converts should also care for each other. These comments, though not presented in a scholastic manner, vividly show Aleni as an experienced master and priest. Not only does he allow the converts to express their own voices, but he also has the knowledge and confidence to merge these voices into a collective one. As a result, the converts learn to live a contemplative Christian life, which is essential for building a spiritual temple inside the mind.

227

Li Jiubiao interestingly refers to the Visitation as xing 幸, a special term for the visit of some place or person by an emperor, or a member of the imperial family. This is another hybrid form of the Christian-Chinese hierarchical world view.

228

KDRC, p. 587; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 613.

229

“On the Trinity,” www.newadvent.org/fathers/130110.htm. (accessed March 12, 2018) According to Augustine, these three reinforce each other and are one life, one mind, and one essence. However, there seems to be an implicit order among them in terms of the movement of the mind, which has been clearly explained in de Mattos’ instructions.

230

Chen is only mentioned in the text by his courtesy name Qizao 啟藻. He was identified by Adrian Dudink in id. 1997, p. 200.

231

KDRC, pp. 588-593; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 613-616.

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4.4.3. The “Five Classics”: Christian and Confucian

On the occasion mentioned above, though Aleni does not put his priority on “scriptures” and “books,” he actually considers them to be a key to success in one’s spiritual and moral learning. This is why he was engaged in writing and publishing voluminous works ever since the 1620s. Given that the local gentry and literati made up the majority in Fujian Catholic communities, it seems natural that Aleni pursued the Jesuits’ strategy of “apostolate through books” to help the local converts build their “spiritual temple.”232 The first task of Aleni was to affirm the authority of Christian scriptures. His situation was a bit awkward, though, because no serious effort had been made by the Jesuits in China to translate the Bible into Chinese despite the 1615 permission from Rome.233 However, by 1630 a convert may have had an idea on what could be referred to as Shengjing 聖經 (Holy Scriptures) in Catholic works. In Tianzhu shengjiao xiaoyin 天主聖教小引 (Brief Introduction of the Sacred Teaching of the Lord of Heaven, ca. 1630), Fan Zhong 范中 mentions five major scriptures that a neophyte shall receive from the priest before baptism. They include Tianzhu jing 天主經 (Lord’s Prayer), Shengmu jing 聖母經 (Hail Mary), Xinjing 信經 (Symbolum, i.e., the Creed), Shijie 十誡 (Ten Commandments), and Shenghao jing 聖號經 (Sign of the Holy Cross).234 In Kouduo richao, Aleni is recorded intentionally borrowing the Confucian term Wujing 五 經 (Five Classics) to promote a set of five Catholic scriptures. He explains this to a guest during a banquet hosted by Chen Kesheng: On the examination grounds the themes for the essays are taken from the Five Classics. … The most essential scriptures of the Lord of Heaven are the following: (1) The Scripture of Faith (Xinjing 信經, the Creed); (2) the Ten Commandments (Shi jie 十誡); (3) the Fourteen Works of Mercy (Aijin shisi duan 哀矜十四端); (4) the Seven Victories (Qi ke 七克, the Seven Cardinal Virtues), and finally, to complete [the account of] the Lord’s grace, (5) the Seven Sacraments (Sagelemengduo zhi qi 撒格勒孟多之七). These five have been established [as subject matter] for the examination of man, so not one of them must be lacking.235

The list of five Catholic “classics” might originate from Shengjing yuelu, which in turn is based on Doctrina Christiana, a popular Catholic catechetical booklet that contains prayers (i.e. the Lord’s Prayer and the Hail Mary), the ten commandments, the creed or Symbolum, the seven cardinal sins and the seven virtues, the fourteen works of mercy, the eight beatitudes, as well as the seven

232

HCC 1, pp. 600-631.

233

Ibid., p. 621.

234

TZSJXY, p. 18. For an analysis of the text, see Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 107-112.

235

KDRC, pp. 439-440; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 516-517. I have added the characters to the Chinese titles to facilitate comparison with those of Fan Zhong’s.

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sacraments.236 The wide circulation of these texts in Fujian Catholic communities offered Aleni a good opportunity to outline a general picture of the most important Catholic texts. Though not all of the five jing are scriptural by nature, the parallel between Catholic and Confucian classics clearly displays a wellmatched analogy: human life is the examination hall; spiritual and moral practices are the examination questions; the scriptures are the textbooks; and finally, the Lord of Heaven is the chief examiner. With such a novel analogy, Aleni subtly adapts his message to the conventional Chinese conception of civil service examinations. Thus it should come as no surprise to find in Kouduo richao a number of occasions where Aleni’s encourages the Chinese converts to read the Christian works that have been translated into Chinese. On one occasion, he mildly criticizes a convert who treasures the book given to him so much that he would not bear touching it in case of making it dirty. Even if the book may be soiled, Aleni says, the man who reads it becomes clean spiritually.237 As for the right ways of reading books, Aleni suggests the converts read only a few fascicles a day to make sure they understand them and remember the contents.238 Moreover, he encourages them to fully grasp the meaning of a book, or even just a sentence in it, and put into practice.239 This continual promotion of books on the Tianxue became the top priority in Aleni’s mission in Fujian. Little wonder Li Sixuan highly praised his master’s great achievements in publication.

4.5. Abolish Heresies It was to be expected that, in the building of a “spiritual temple,” Aleni and his converts would list Buddhism, Daoism and other cults as evil temptations to be resisted. After Ricci had discarded the ambiguous identity as a Buddhist monk (seng 僧) adopted by Ruggieri (or Cobo in Manila), the Jesuits in the late Ming literally declared a war on Buddhism, an indigenized religion that had permeated large areas of Chinese culture for over a millennium. The early Jesuits’s antagonism towards Buddhism was clearly shown in their face-to-face debates with Buddhist monks and criticisms against the falsehood of this religion.240 Like Ricci, Aleni saw Buddhism as the most dangerous teaching among native heresies. The late Ming synthesis of Buddhist-Confucian thoughts turned out to 236

Shengjing yuelu, pp. 89-115. See HCC 1, p. 609. A Dominican edition of Doctrina Christiana, bilingual in Chinese and Tagalog, was published in Manila in the 1590s. Whether it had a connection with the Jesuit version in China is not clear. See Doctrina christiana. The First Book Printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593.

237

KDRC, p. 38; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 193.

238

KDRC, pp. 271-272; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 395-396.

239

KDRC, pp. 514-515; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 565.

240

For an analysis of Ricci’s debate with the monk Sanhuai in person and the apologetic letters attributed to him, see Cheung 2002, pp. 91-107. An analysis of conflicts between the Jesuits and the Buddhists of this period is offered in Gernet 1982, pp. 101-113.

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be a great obstacle on his way to promote the new Christian–Confucian form of learning. In his anti-Buddhist works, Aleni insisted that Buddhism and other heresies embodied the first cardinal sin of pride. The idols being worshipped either did not recognize the Lord of Heaven or tried to usurp His supreme authority. His criticial attitude not only discouraged some converts and sympathetic scholars who would otherwise be tolerant to Buddhist teachings, but it was also met with radical counterattacks from Buddhist monks and proBuddhist scholars. 4.5.1. Problems with Buddhism and Daoism

There are no personal confrontations between Aleni and Buddhist monks recorded in Kouduo richao, but he does engage in heated debates with some converts and visiting scholars who tolerated Buddhism and allowed it to coexist with the Jesuit Tianxue. In one conversation, a convert asks his master whether Buddha can be accepted by the Lord of Heaven as one of the saints in Heaven for preaching a doctrine of love and compassion. Since Buddha is born of the Lord, Aleni replies, he is supposed to worship Him in response to the “grace of the Great Father.” But Buddha on the contrary confuses the origin of this grace and misleads people to worship him as the only supreme authority between heaven and earth. To Aleni, this is an unforgivable betrayal.241 He intentionally compares the relation between the Lord of Heaven and Buddha with the familiar Chinese father–son relation. Just like a son is supposed to be filial to his father, so should Buddha be filial to the Lord, who is the “Great Father-Mother” of the whole world. In addition to the father–son relation, Aleni also employs the ruler–subject relation to attack Buddhism. Between November 24 and 29, 1633, he engages in discussions with Lai Shizhang on Buddhist teachings. 242 The topics include whether Da fantian Wang 大 梵 天 王 (Mahābrahmā) is the Lord of Heaven, whether Jesus is a man, whether Buddha is the incarnated Lord of Heaven, the reason for Aleni’s attack on Buddhism, the fallacy of the Buddhist taboo on killing, the difference between Catholic Holy Water and Buddhist pure water, suffering in Hell, etc.243 Aleni restates the Jesuits’ common stance that Buddhist deities, including Buddha and Da fantian Wang, are disloyal subjects who try to usurp the supreme power from the Lord of Heaven. It is notable that Aleni uses some classical Confucian sayings in his argumentation. For example, in criticizing the popular Buddhist taboo on killing, he quotes Mencius’ comments on King Wen’s offering of chicken and pigs to old people. On the one hand, it proves that killing animals for livelihood has existed 241

KDRC, pp. 151-152; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 305-306.

242

Though according to Li Jiubiao’s editorial principle Lai, being introduced with a courtesy name, should be considered a convert, Zürcher thinks that Lai is a critical scholar with a lay Buddhist background. See Zürcher 1997b, p. 609; id. 2007, vol. 1, p. 430.

243

KDRC, pp. 322-344; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 429.

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since ancient times. On the other hand, King Wen’s welfare policy reflects the Lord of Heaven’s intent of creating all things, including animals, to feed human beings. Here again Aleni adopts a Confucian example to support his refutation of Buddhism.244 By engaging in debates with other pro-Buddhist scholars, Aleni grows more confident in applying the metaphor of an imperial hierarchy to Buddhist deities and Lord of Heaven. We have discussed part of his conversation with Zhou xiaolian on the doctrine of incarnation. Zhou not only has his doubts about the doctrine, but he also tends to reconcile Buddhism and Christianity. In Zhou’s eyes, these religions may coexist in the sense that the Lord of Heaven is the ruler while Buddha and Laozi may be the subordinates. In response to this tolerant view, Aleni answers: If the position of the Buddha and Laozi vis-à-vis the Lord of Heaven had been like that of ministers vis-à-vis the great ruler, they only would have obeyed the religious commands of the one and only sovereign; they would not secretly have set up their own code of prohibitions and treacherously have planned to usurp power. Then they indeed could have complemented the task of the one and only venerable [Lord]. But they actually did not behave like that. They rather were like ministers who are acting contrary to the ruler’s decrees and in contempt of the law, and who are ordering people to follow them rather than the ruler. They are rebels of the worst kind. How could I ever tolerate them and adopt [their ideas]?245

In this severe charge, Buddhist teachings are declared nothing more than deception and confusion. On the contrary, the Catholic doctrines on Heaven and Hell, the Ten Commandments, seven overcomings, and confessions, should be adopted as the orthodox teaching compatible with the Confucian learning on humaneness, rightness, modesty, as well as self-cultivation and self-examination. The same logic features in a later discussion between Aleni and Zhu Jizuo, the retired Grand Secretary at the Nanjing court. Likely due to the 1637 antiChristian persecutions, Aleni tends to make certain compromises to Chinese deities and admits them in a Catholic hierarchical order. However, when Zhu turns to Buddhism and Daoism, Aleni cannot restrain himself any longer. He insists that Buddha and Laozi are human beings created by the Lord of Heaven. They should have obeyed the Lord’s rules like officials obeying rules in a court, but they have rather chosen to found their own cults and ask people to worship them. They are guilty of the sin of pride and have become traitors of the Lord of Heaven. For this reason, their false teachings should be completely abolished.246 Aleni also retains a critical attitude towards Daoism, which to him is another deviation from the Way. 247 Kouduo richao has an interesting record on his discussion with a Daoist from the Xiuzhen hui 修真會 (Association for Culti244

For an analysis of this Buddhist-Christian polemic, see Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 437-438.

245

KDRC, pp. 497-498; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 553.

246

KDRC, pp. 531-533; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 577.

247

KDRC, p. 160; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 314-315.

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vating Perfection). The Daoist comes to ask Aleni on the practice of the Ledgers of Merits and Demerits (gongguo ge 功 過 格 ) in his association. Initially a specific type of morality books that appeared in the Song dynasty, these Ledgers of Merits and Demerits later gradually absorbed various elements from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, culminating in the late Ming as an established tradition of moralistic syncretism.248 Based on the idea that one could control one’s own destiny, they offered detailed guidelines for one to keep track of good and bad acts in daily life, so that corresponding rewards and punishments would come to reality in this life or the afterlife. Aleni must have been aware of this type of practice even among the Confucian literati in the late Ming. Upon being asked directly by a Daoist, he replies with a twofold argument. On the one hand, to investigate one’s merit and demerit belongs to the benevolent works, a category that he would not reject. He himself promotes the merit “benevolence to people” among the converts, as part of the fourteen Christian works of mercy. On the other hand, Aleni firmly opposes the Daoist ceremony of burning ledgers before the altar of Patriarch Lü (Lü zushi 呂祖師, i.e., Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓), a 9th-century Daoist master who achieved immortality and later became one of the patriarchs in Quanzhen Daoism. As an “usurper” of the Lord of Heaven, Lü does not have the authority to forgive those people who commit demerits, or sins in a Christian sense. To support his argument, Aleni further quotes a statement of Confucius – “He who offends Heaven has no means to pray for [forgiveness]” (huo zui yu tian, wusuo dao ye 獲罪於天, 無所禱也).249 He provides a creative reinterpretation of this statement by blending the Confucian heaven with the Catholic Lord of Heaven. If a man offends the Lord’s will, he should pray to no other authority but the Lord for forgiveness. The irony is that, although Aleni consciously appropriates Confucian thought to attack Daoism, he would not allow the Daoist to further reinterpret his appropriation. The Daoist argues that Shangdi (Lord on High), whom the Jesuits consider as the Lord of Heaven, is worshiped in his association as well. Aleni immediately points out that what is called Shangdi by the Daoist is not the Zhenzhu 真主 (True Lord) of the Catholic doctrine. If one accepts whatever teaching one encounters, including Buddhism, Daoism, and the Teaching of Three-in-One (Sanyi jiao), and does not fix the mind on the one true Lord, one will still have no merit to count on in the end. 250 Aleni is trying to use a Christian–Confucian hybridization to counteract the syncretic trend of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism in the late Ming. To what extent this strategy may have succeeded is debatable, but Aleni without doubt plays the role

248

Tadao Sakai 1970, pp. 341-366.

249

KDRC, p. 277; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 401. For Confucius’ statement, see Legge 2001, vol. I, p. 159, fn. 13; Waley 1989, p. 97, fn. 4.

250

KDRC, p. 278; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 401-402.

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of a crusader who fights against Daoist heresies in order to restore the lost “orthodoxy” of Christian–Confucian teaching. The same fervor is apparent in Aleni’s other anti-Daoist arguments. For example, in response to Lai Shizhang’s point that the Daoist deity Yuhuang 玉皇 (Jade Emperor) may in a sense be equal to the Lord of Heaven, Aleni develops a well-thought refutation in three steps. First, he argues that the title of Yuhuang did not exist until Emperor Huizong 徽宗 of the Song gave it to him. Second, Yuhuang was a man who has practiced self-cultivation for several aeons before he could be enthroned. How could a petty human being, a creature of the Lord of Heaven, dare to call himself the supreme Lord. This act, Aleni argues, is just like that of a traitor usurping the imperial throne. Third and finally, Aleni finds what he considers a loophole within the Daoist hierarchy: There are deities called sanqing 三 清 (Three Pure Ones, i.e., Yuanshi Tianzun 元 始 天 尊 , Lingbao Tianzun 靈寶天尊, and Daode Tianzun 道德天尊) above Yuhuang. This makes it even more evident that Yuhuang cannot be the most venerable Lord.251 In these arguments, we cannot miss Aleni’s careful use of factual knowledge and rhetorical reasoning in attacking Chinese idolatrous worship to this false deity. 4.5.2. Problems with Popular Religions

In Kouduo richao, Aleni also targets some popular religious cults. We have already seen his critical attitude towards the worship of the Lord Wenchang in Chapter Three. He delivers strong arguments on the soulless nature of stars and the falsehood of Chinese astrology, but his words definitely frustrate those Confucian converts who may have participated in the worship of Wenchang in hope for good fortune in the civil service examinations. As a result, Aleni faces another challenging task in refuting Chinese popular beliefs in the Chenghuang 城隍 (City Gods) and Guan Gong 關公 (Lord Guan). However, Aleni holds a somewhat ambiguous attitude towards these native deities. During his conversation with Zhu Jizuo, the latter says that the worship of the Chenghuang has existed since ancient times. He wonders why Christians would not pay homage to them. In response, Aleni first introduces the common medieval belief that each man, city, and state has a guardian angel designated by the Lord of Heaven. These guardian angels are ranked at different levels in the hierarchical universe. If the Chenghuang by any means could fit in this order, Aleni says, Christians like him would surely pay homage to them. Regretfully, the Chenghuang worshiped today are in fact human beings with surnames. People make these idols to adore them and pray to them for fortune and happiness, thus forgetting the true Lord. How could he pay homage to these false deities who try to usurp the authority of the Lord? When Zhu argues that the Chenghuang cult is not about worshipping human beings, Aleni replies with a bold suggestion: “If that is true, then you must inscribe a wooden tablet, calling him ‘Supernatural Being Charged by the Lord of 251

KDRC, pp. 323-324; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 431-433.

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Heaven to Protect this City’, and then pay homage to him according to the ritual of the Heavenly Doctrine, without using the false scriptures and false rituals of the Buddhists and Daoists: that would be the correct procedure.” 252 In other words, this dubious deity may still be acceptable provided that he submits himself to the Lord of Heaven in the Christian hierarchy. Zhu also wonders why Aleni would not worship great figures like Lord Guan who contributed greatly to improving private and public morality. In his reply, Aleni quotes a well-known phrase of Confucius “Be respectful to the spirits (of the dead) but keep at a distance from them” ( jing [guishen] er yuan zhi 敬 [鬼神] 而遠之). He argues that it is all right to respect Guan for his loyalty and filial piety, but people cannot worship him like a god who possesses the same power as the Lord of Heaven in controlling fortune and misfortune. Interestingly, Aleni consciously makes very critical comments on the life of the historical Guan Yu, claiming that he was loyal to his sworn brother Liu Bei 劉備 (161–223), but not to the Han regime. There have been many other loyalists like Guan in history, yet Chinese people did not set up any images and altars to worship them. Aleni then turns to contemporary reality and refers to the recent Manchu conquest of Liaodong with a satirical tone: Now Guan Yu has been honored with even higher titles, but the ravages caused by roving bandits have spread over almost half of China. For the last ten or more years the court has been steeped in deep sorrow, but I have not heard of any responses from the unseen world made by Guan Yu to drive back the bandits and to sweep away their poisonous exhalations.253

Ironically, Aleni adds, the rebels also sacrifice to Guan in their armies. How come Guan should receive such excessive honors by assisting them in making troubles? If Guan has once shown his exemplary character of righteousness and would not be tempted by a thousand pieces of gold or a noble title, how come the lower class people now can expect good luck in return for offering him those vulgar things? With these arguments, Aleni interweaves Confucian thought, history, and social reality to prove the falsehood of this popular religion. The impact of his arguments can be seen in later works by Chinese converts, such as Da kewen 答客問 (Answers to a Guest’s Questions, ca. 1643) by Zhu Zongyuan 朱宗元 (ca. 1615–1660) and Lisu mingbian and Wenda huichao by Li Jiugong.254

4.6. Different in Place, Same in Mind and Principle In his preface to the 1607 reprint of Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi, Li Zhizao writes, “The Eastern Sea and the Western Sea have the same mind and principle.”255 In his preface to Aleni’s Zhifang waiji, Yang Tingyun also writes that “[People from] 252

KDRC, p. 531; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 576.

253

KDRC, pp. 533-537; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 578-580.

254

Zhu Zongyuan, Da kewen, in Zheng Ande 2003, vol. 3, pp. 302-304; Li Jiugong, Wenda huichao and Lisu mingbian, in CCT ARSI, vol. 9, pp. 44-45, 58-61.

255

TXCH, vol. 1, p. 356.

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the Eastern Sea and the Western Sea do not consult each other, but [their opinions] tally with each other.”256 These syncretic statements clearly indicate the predominant view among the Jesuits and Chinese converts in search of common universal salvation. Li and Yang adopt Lu Jiuyuan’s words on “Eastern Sea” and “Western Sea” and reinterpret them to make sense of the encounter between the Jesuits and Confucian scholars during the late Ming time.257 Aleni reaffirms this idea in Xixue fan and is determined “to merge the studies of the saints (or sages) from the Eastern Sea and the Western Sea into one current.” 258 As has been discussed before, this East-West concordance was indeed experimented with in the course of the spiritual and moral learning of Confucian converts in Fujian. In their dialogic exchanges, the Jesuit masters and the converts often compare the Lord of Heaven and the hierarchical universe between Heaven and Hell to a human ruler and his kingdom. If the ruler and his authority cannot be doubted, the same can be said about the Lord of Heaven with His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. This imperial analogy is also used by Aleni to answer such questions as why the supreme Lord would take the form of a man and why He would accept the humiliating crucifixion. Christ, the incarnated Lord, is compared to the sage King Tang who would sacrifice himself to redeem his people’s faults. As it turns out, a universal Christian hierarchy is introduced to include, but not to replace, the established imperial Chinese world order. The Jesuits and the converts also try to find acceptable interpretations for the essentially non-Chinese concept of the human soul, and its relation with the human body. Aleni employs a series of examples and analogies, such as gold, silver, and copper coins, low officials and high officials, the boatman and his boat, charioteer and horses, master and donkey, face and limbs, and the root and branches of a tree, to facilitate an easier understanding of this Christian doctrine in a Chinese context. A more difficult task, however, lay in the heated debates on human nature, which had long been a type of specialized knowledge among Confucian scholars. Though Aleni and the other Jesuits propose the challenging concept of “subduing nature” in contrast to the Neo-Confucian notion of “following nature,” their real intention is not to attack Confucianism. In fact, they tend to tailor the “Christian” concepts of the human soul and the original sin to classical Confucian thought. The Chinese interlocutors, whether they accepted or rejected the Jesuit concept, respond with their own reinterpretations of the alleged Confucian “orthodoxy” on human nature. The remarkable Christian–Confucian spirituality and morality were not only relevant for theological discussions but also for actions to be taken in real 256

Zhifang waiji (TXCH), p. 1296.

257

Lu Jiuyuan made the following statement: “There are sages from the Eastern Sea, and they have the same mind and the same principle. There are sages from the Western Sea, and they have the same mind, the same principle. There are sages from the Southern Sea and the Northern Sea, and they have the same mind and the same principle.” See Xiangshan quanji, p. 489.

258

XXF, p. 59.

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religious life. Aleni’s instruction on the three merits – filial piety to the Lord of Heaven as the “Great Father–Mother,” benevolence to people, and austerity to one’s self – offers a perfect outline of how to realize the essential aspects of a Christian life in a Chinese context. An analogy is constructed between the Lord of Heaven and a secular parent. The former of course takes the highest priority, while the latter is supposed to be secondary but still in harmony with the former. A twofold concept of filial piety thus takes root in the family-based Fujian Catholic communities. As for benevolence to people, the basic virtue of love is also reinterpreted in a Christian–Confucian manner. Not only does Aleni present a novel but still acceptable theory of ranked love, but he also encourages and guides the converts to do good works, which fuse Catholic works of mercy with Confucian practical morality. Moreover, the progress towards one’s spiritual and moral perfection had to include strict self-examinations and devoted contemplations. The spiritual wellbeing relied on constant reflections on one’s thought, thereby helping one build a spiritual “temple” from within. This interiorization, deeply rooted in the Ignatian style of spiritual exercises, found many applications in the spiritual training of Chinese converts. On the one hand, Aleni retold the biblical stories about the cardinal sins within a familiar Chinese context. On the other hand, the converts consciously draw parallels between the authoritative views of the Confucian masters and the Jesuit masters in their efforts to overcome temptations and desires. To reach the purgative and illuminative states of a contemplative life, Aleni also endeavored to teach his converts how to control the mind and remove improper thoughts, and how to meditate on Christological mysteries. This process involved fundamental Christian texts strategically compared to Confucian classics. Last but not least, a syncretic Christian–Confucian spiritual and moral learning further urged one to abolish native heresies such as Buddha, Yuhuang, the Chenghuang, and Lord Guan. In this respect, we cannot miss Aleni’s frequent use of the familiar metaphor of an imperial hierarchy to depict the relation between the Lord of Heaven and these idols as one of a legitimate ruler versus disloyal usurpers. This type of refutation is intended both to match dominant Confucian ideology as well as consolidate a synthesis of spirituality and morality. The detailed analysis of the above aspects may cast some doubts on Zürcher’s view of Aleni’s Fujian mission. Zürcher claims that Aleni’s religious instruction of the Fujian converts was carried out by means of an “authentic,” purist, and “much less hybridized, or ‘Confucianized’” pattern.259 In fact, as we have seen in many examples, the dialogic exchanges between Aleni and the Fujian converts underwent a complex process of hybridization structured by the paradoxical self– other relation. This hybridization did not disappear even when they began to pay more attention to contemplative religious life in the late 1630s.

259

Zürcher 1997b, pp. 614-615.

CHAPTER FIVE

Salvation before the Eyes: Objects, Images, and Liturgies The Fujian mission in the 1630s staged intensive intellectual conversations among Aleni, his confreres, the converts, and non-believers. However, what they were engaged in were not purely scholarly talks, but rather conversational events often involving religious objects, images and ritual activities. In other words, the universal salvation embedded in the Tianxue could not only be discussed but was also visible and practicable. This turns out to be a distinctive feature of Kouduo richao not often seen among late Ming Christian works. The work is of course dialogic by nature, but it meanwhile serves as a private type of “chronicle,” as Li Jiubiao calls it, which consistently marks the time and place of each conversation and records the actions, manners, and emotions of the participants. The narratives are brief and fragmented in many occasions, but they do allow us some glimpses of the objects, images, and rituals available to the Jesuits and Fujian converts. Their visual representations and experiences of the Christian religion therefore became another important component in the dialogic formation of a hybrid Christian–Confucian identity in late Ming Fujian.

5.1. Marvelous Objects from the Far West When the first Jesuits entered China, they brought a variety of religious objects, including pictures and statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary, the Holy Cross, and other objects for liturgical uses (e.g., chalice, candle, casket). These marvelous objects, together with world maps, telescopes, prisms, clocks, and musical instruments, were purposefully displayed by the Jesuits to attract curious Chinese visitors. 1 When the first Jesuit residence was established in Zhaoqing in 1583, Ruggieri and Ricci showed a triangular prism and a statue of the Virgin Mary to a crowd of local visitors: This was all very new to the Chinese people, something as yet unheard of, and a tremendous crowd had gathered for the occasion. The field in which the Flowery Tower was being built was so crowded with a curious multitude, anxious to see the foreign priests that the Governor and his guard, even with all his authority, could not pass through it. The people were astonished beyond words when they first saw the triangular prism of glass, intended for the former Governor, and they stared in surprise at a little statue of the Blessed Virgin. Those who saw the glass at close view simply stood in mute admiration. This was particularly true of the Magistrates who accompanied the Governor, and the more they praised it the more they aroused the curiosity of the multi-

1

Cheung 2002, pp. 8-15; Chen Hui-hung 2010, pp. 55-123.

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tude. Finally, our generous host asked that he might be permitted to take the novelties to his palace, to show them to his family.2

In this dramatic episode, we can easily detect a sense of exoticism among the Chinese audience. The show of these two Western objects enabled the Jesuits to build friendship with local officials and gentry, who could determine the fate of the Jesuit mission in China. In his writings, Ricci does not miss any opportunity to stress the method in using various Western cose (i.e., things) for missionary purposes. In a letter to Father Acquaviva, he reports: The fourth reason (for the Chinese to come) was to see some of our things that I carried with me. The main thing was the triangular prism which can show various colors, so they call it a precious stone. Every day they would go to houses of the gentry to see prisms of this type. I also brought a well-done oil painting of Madonna with the Child. Our books bound with wooden boards and gilded with gold also aroused great admiration, showing that we came from a place of civilization. […] Other things that I brought were instruments such as astrolabes, spheres, globes, and maps, etc. I shall not write down a longer list. All of these things were unknown and unseen in this country. The sundial plate has already been printed many times by those who with great skills put everything on the stone onto paper and imitated the pattern I conveyed to them. The whole piece was in black except for the letters and lines in white, together with marks of hours and twenty-four celestial sections drawn by myself. Without any doubt at its accuracy, they have made many copies of it.3

Indeed, prisms, maps, paintings, clocks, sundials, and clavichords should not be simply taken as objects per se, but rather as a set of symbols that served different religious, political, and cultural purposes. Little wonder the Jesuits would not only give these Western objects to Chinese officials and nobles as gifts of friendship, but also submitted them to Emperor Wanli as tributes from Da Xiyangguo 大西洋國 (Country of the Great Western Ocean).4 On the other hand, there was a highly developed material culture in late Ming society. It naturally facilitated the introduction of Western objects as a new category for Chinese cultural consumption of the foreign other(s). Ricci’s Europeanstyle world maps, for example, have been reprinted many times by late Ming Chinese literati and officials.5 The work Yuanxi qiqi tushuo luzui 遠西奇器圖說 錄最 (Illustrations of Marvelous Machines from the Far West, 1626), which was compiled by Wang Zheng and Johann T. Schreck, served the same purpose of 2

Gallagher 1953, p. 150.

3

The letter is dated on November 4, 1595. See Opere storiche del P. Matteo Ricci S.J., p. 208. Translation from the original Italian mine.

4

Chen Hui-hung 2010, pp. 83-96.

5

For studies on Chinese copies of Ricci’s world maps, see Cao Wanru et al. 1983, pp. 5770; Huang – Gong 2004, pp. 3-47.

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knowledge transmission.6 In terms of connoisseurship, Cheng Dayue 程大約 (ca. 1541–1610) included several Christian pictures in Chengshi moyuan 程氏墨苑 (Mr. Cheng’s Collection of Ink-stick Designs, 1606).7 More interestingly, objects from the Far West even could serve the purpose of ideological appropriation. For example, Cao Junyi’s 曹君義 Tianxia jiubian fenye renji lucheng quantu 天下九邊分野人跡路程全圖 (The Complete Map of Allotted Fields within the Nine Borders under Heaven, together with Routes and Distances, 1644) borrows the oval pattern and longitudes from Western cartography, yet without the latitudes. China remains at the center and occupies the biggest portion, represented as a square shape which apparently derives from the traditional Chinese Hua–Yi tu 華夷 圖 (Maps of China and Barbarian Countries). Europe and Africa are disproportionately reduced in size, while the American continents become two separate islands. China, or the so-called Middle Kingdom, is now re-located at the center of a new, enlarged world.8 The examples above show diverse Chinese reactions in their intercultural encounter with the Western objects. In the artistic aspect, Chinese appreciation and adaptation of European arts further developed into a notable fashion of Western exoticism in the Qing court through the 17th and the 18th centuries.9 Not surprisingly, Western objects also played a key role in the Fujian mission. Aleni and his confreres brought a handful of scientific objects to the newly established churches in Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and other places. The Jesuits engaged in dialogues with their convert disciples and non-Christian visitors on the practical uses of the map of Rome, the wooden globe, the astrolabe, and the telescope. The next category consisted of a number of religious objects, among which the Holy Cross received particular attention. Christian paintings and prints also made an impressive presence in Kouduo richao and Aleni’s illustrated work on the life of Jesus. In addition, the fast-growing Catholic communities in Fujian facilitated more frequent uses of liturgical objects in conducting mass and other sacramental activities. The third category consisted of miscellaneous objects, including a glass mirror and a Xiqin 西琴 (clavichord). The Jesuits often showed them for moral instructions, yet the Chinese converts rather appreciated the same objects with an exotic fascination. As we shall see later, these different categories of objects contributed in many ways to the dialogic construction of a hybrid Christian– Confucian life in late Ming Fujian.

6

Needham 1965, pp. 211-225; Zhang Baichun 1996, pp. 45-51; and id. 2008.

7

Lin Li-chiang 1998, pp. 200-225.

8

There is a copy of this map now held in the British Library (“Map of China and Neighbouring Countries” [Shelfmark: 60875 (11)]). For more information about the map, see Chen Jian 1994, p. 56.

9

Sullivan 1980, pp. 8-31; id. 1997, pp. 41-87; HCC 1, pp. 809-839.

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5.1.1. Objects of Miracles

Kouduo richao records an interesting conversation, dated November 6, 1630, between Aleni and the Commander Liu Yingchong 劉應寵 in Haikou, the hometown of Li Jiubiao.10 In the conversation, Aleni relates the popular story about a handkerchief imprinted with Jesus’ visage: The Regional Commander Liu [Yinchong] paid a visit to [my home], where at that moment we were worshipping the Holy Image [of Jesus]. He then asked: “Is it life-like?” The master said: “It is – but there is one that is even more authentic. Anciently, when Jesus was dwelling in this world, there was a king who admired his saintly virtue. Since he wanted to see him but was unable to do so, he secretly sent a painter to have his portrait made. However, as soon as the painter saw Jesus, he was blinded by his supernatural light and could not fix his eyes upon him. Jesus knew this, so he took a handkerchief and covered his face with it, and at once his holy countenance was reproduced on it. That veil has been preserved till the present day. Before I sailed [to China] I have seen it myself. Every hair of the beard and eyebrows is there, and the resemblance is such that it seems to be alive.”11

Without doubt, the story refers to the legend of King Abgar of Edessa widely known in medieval Europe. In one version of this legend, the king dispatched a servant to see Jesus and get his facial imprint on a towel (or a canvas).12 This holy object (also called Mandylion) of the Byzantine East was taken to Rome by the crusaders after they sacked the city of Constantinople during the early 13th century.13 Given the fact that Aleni spent his college years in Rome, it was likely that he had a chance to see this handkerchief in person, which was kept at St. Peter’s Basilica as one of the most treasured relics for the Catholic Church.14 In his later work Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe, Aleni offers a more detailed account of the same story, which is based on a certain Xishi 西史 (Western History), and reaffirms his personal witness of this imprint in Rome.15 By telling this miraculous story in the Chinese context, Aleni consciously creates an awe-

10

Liu’s official title is Zongrong 總戎, an unofficial reference to Zongbing 總兵, i.e., a Regional Commander. See Hucker 1985, pp. 531, 533. Liu Yingchong was appointed as Commander of the South Route army in Fujian in 1625. See Lin Jinshui 1996, p. 188.

11

KDRC, p. 61; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 224-225. Western sources use different words to refer to the material, such as cloth, towel, canvas, veil, and handkerchief. Here the last one seems most fitting for the Chinese character pa 帕, which is used by Aleni.

12

Jensen 2005, p. 135.

13

There were three Mandylion images, each claimed to be the original, in medieval times: the first in Genoa, the second in Paris, and the third in Rome. See Finaldi 2000, pp. 98-101.

14

The relic was once lost after the sack of Rome by German Lutheran soldiers in 1527, but another one, still claimed to be the original, was displayed in 1533. If Aleni saw it in Rome, it should have been the 1533 relic. See Finaldi 2000, p. 75.

15

TZJSYXJL, pp. 209-211.

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inspiring image of the Lord of Heaven, and further presents the Catholic tradition of hierolatry from the Middle Ages onwards to the Chinese audience.16 If the image of Jesus mainly aroused amazement and appealed to the exotic taste of a non-Christian, the Holy Cross turned out to be a marvelous object treasured among the converts. Kouduo richao features numerous records of Aleni describing the miraculous power of the Holy Cross in building up the converts’ spiritual strength. On May 3, 1630, the feast day for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Aleni asks Li Jiubiao about the foremost work of merit to pay back the Lord of Heaven.17 Li replies that one should read thoroughly the religious books and be diligent in receiving other people. His master does not seem to be satisfied, and he quotes a reference from the Scripture to correct Li and stresses that none is greater than carrying one’s own Cross for the Lord of Heaven. 18 The “Cross” which he is referring to is both “visible,” like the ones Li must have often seen in the church, and “invisible,” meaning that one should cultivate the spiritual virtues such as love and endurance as well as overcome sins through self-examination. Since Li has been baptized some time ago, Aleni suggests that Li turn the Cross into a spiritual symbol in his mind rather than a physical object before the eyes. Whether visible or invisible, the Holy Cross remains at the center of Christian worship. Kouduo richao records a homily at Yongchun in 1636, in which Aleni explains the symbolic meaning of each part of the Cross in detail to help the converts contemplate on the crucifixion: Moreover, as our Lord has been nailed to the cross, and we are beating our breasts and shedding tears, let us respectfully behold this cross, for [each of its parts], above, below, left, and right, has its [deeper] meaning. Its upper part signifies that the highest and supreme Lord has on our behalf been suspended on this cross – should this not direct our thoughts upward to surpassing heights and make us say “let us imitate the Lord and purify ourselves”? Its lower part signifies that on our behalf his most excellent and stainless body has been nailed to this cross – should this not direct our thoughts downward to awe and modesty, and make us say “let us be humble and control ourselves”? As to the left and right parts: among common human beings the left hand generally is 16

Song Gang 2011b, pp. 224-225.

17

The Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, called the Triumph of the Cross since 1970 by the Roman Catholic Church and commonly known as the Holy Cross Day, was established in 335 to commemorate the discovery of the True Cross by St. Helena (ca. 248–328) on her pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 326. After the 7th century, the Holy Cross was celebrated on two dates – September 14 and May 3 – in the Catholic Church. The former date is to commemorates the rescue of the Cross from the Persians in 630 by the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius (575–641), while the latter date refers to the discovery of the Cross. Orthodox Christians, however, commemorates it on August 1. Both of the first two dates appear in Kouduo richao: “Exaltation of the Holy Cross” (KDRC, p. 435) and “Finding the Holy Cross.” (KDRC, pp. 55, 101). See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 218, 515.

18

KDRC, pp. 55-56. Jesus’ instruction can be seen in Mt 16:24, Mk 8:34, and Lk 9:23, with some slight differences in wording.

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weaker, and the right hand is the stronger one. [Let us imitate the forbearance shown by the left hand, and the strength shown by the right one.] And you may also meditate as follows: If we cannot emulate the left-hand grace of this cross, why could we not be strong and powerful like the right hand, and exert ourselves to receive his grace’?19

The four symbolic meanings – purity, humility, forbearance, and strength – may summarize the unique nature of the Cross as a sacred religious object. Here Aleni deliberately points to another layer of symbolism in line with the typical Ignatian spiritual training. To highlight the divine character of the Cross, Aleni and his confreres continued to share with Fujian converts some popular stories of medieval hierolatry. Kouduo richao records that, on May 3, 2631, the feast day for Finding the Holy Cross, Rudomina and Chen Rutiao 陳汝調 discuss the Holy Cross that had been discovered in the West. Chen wonders whether it is true that the Holy Cross has been divided by the Western countries and each part was treated as an extremely valuable treasure. Rudomina affirms this point and gives a twofold explanation. First, the Cross was once used as an instrument for capital punishment, but since the Lord sacrificed himself on the Cross it has been transformed into a sacred object for worship. Second, after the Holy Cross had been found, every country in the Great West got a part of it. Strangely enough, despite the fact that the part kept in Rome was further divided again, it did not become smaller in size. The reason for this miraculous phenomenon, Rudomina says, should be that the Lord would be willing to satisfy the needs of all faithful ones.20 It was a popular medieval idea that the Holy Cross had the supernatural power of multiplication. By calling it “an extremely valuable treasure in the Great West,” Rudomina seems to add an exotic taste to arouse curiosity and admiration in the convert audience. In their China mission, the Jesuits also advocated the important function of the Cross in exorcism. Using the Cross and many other religious objects to exorcise demons had been a common tradition in medieval Europe. As a matter of fact, the first Jesuits themselves performed various types of exorcisms to free individuals from diabolical possessions.21 They introduced the same practices to late Ming China, where people were no strangers to exorcisms under the influence of Buddhism and Daoism. Thus, they found another way to show their “expertise” in face of the practical needs of Chinese people. Moreover, they tended to demonstrate the superiority of their marvelous objects in competition with those used by Buddhists and Daoists. Ricci recorded a miraculous healing in Zhaoqing around 1588. A man was possessed by the devil and wandered in the midst of tombs at night. His family invited a group of idol-worshiping priests to perform exorcism by filling the house with “monstrous pictures of demons.” The man did 19

KDRC, pp. 426-427; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 507-508. A sentence in the original Chinese text is missing in Zürcher’s translation, so I add my translation of it in square brackets.

20

KDRC, p. 101; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 254-255.

21

O’Malley 1993, pp. 267-268.

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not get healed in this way, so his parents asked a Jesuit father to come for help. When he arrived, he requested all idols to be destroyed. Then he “recited some prayers and suspended a little reliquary, containing a holy relic, about the neck of the afflicted.” He was cured immediately, and the family converted to the Christian religion.22 In 1599, the Jesuits in Nanjing performed an exorcism at a newly bought mission house that was believed to be haunted by ghosts. They recited prayers, carried a crucifix, and sprinkled the Holy Water in the house. The ghosts never appeared again. Soon the story was spread widely in Nanjing and other places that the Jesuits could exorcize demons with their magical objects.23 In this way magic came to be an extended part of religion in promoting the Christian faith among the non-believers. Making signs of the Cross in public and private worship likewise reminded the converts of this divine object, which was endowed with many symbolic meanings in Catholic liturgies administered by the Jesuits. The use of the Cross for exorcism and liturgical purposes appeared to be common among Fujian Catholic communities. In Kouduo richao, Li Jiubiao records an edifying story on how the Cross may serve as an effective tool for exorcism. A man surnamed Chen in Fuqing had a wife who had been obsessed by a devil for twenty years. When Aleni visited Fuqing in 1631, Chen came to him and asked for help. Aleni provided Chen with a shenghao 聖號, likely an amulet or charm with a Cross written on it, and a copy of the Shenghao jing 聖號經 (Sign of the Holy Cross), which a neophyte normally received before baptism.24 Chen was delighted at this orthodox teaching, and he gave his wife the scripture. The next night, his wife saw another smaller devil coming to her at the big devil’s order. She quickly made the holy sign. The devil ran away, never to appear again thereafter.25 In this dramatic event, both the sign of the Holy Cross and the Holy Scripture were made into objects charged with supernatural power. They closely resembled the use of charms and spells in the exorcist practices of native Chinese religions. The story of Chen’s wife is one of many such incidents to be found in Li Jiugong’s Lixiu yijian.26 These stories revealed the “popular” dimension of Chris22

Gallagher 1953, p. 203.

23

Ibid., pp. 345-348.

24

The scripture is a short piece, collected in early catechetical works, for example, Shengjing yuelu and Tianzhu jiaoyao. It runs: “To make the sign of the Holy Cross. ‘The Lord of Heaven our Lord, save us from our enemies. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.’” The version in the latter work has the sign of “†” inserted in between the sentences. Clearly, it is designed for the converts to literally make signs of the cross while praying. See Shengjing yuelu and Tianzhu jiaoyao, in CCT ARSI, vol. 1, pp. 100-101, 310-311.

25

KDRC, p. 139; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 294.

26

In the second volume of Lixiu yijian, under the category of yiji 異蹟 (miraculous works), Li records more than 20 stories on the use of religious objects, including shenghao, shengjia 聖架 (Holy Cross), shengxiang 聖像 (Holy Image), shengshui 聖水 (Holy Water),

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tianity in late Ming Fujian: the actors were local converts from the common people, and they were more concerned with the practical effects of the Christian faith than with the intellectual understanding of doctrinal concepts.27 The miraculous cure of Chen’s wife must have stirred up excitement in the environs of Fuqing. When Li Jiubiao informed his master that the charm and the scripture indeed worked, Aleni did not hesitate to express his opinion: During my peregrinations through many countries I always have told nonbelievers about the Scripture of the Holy Sign, but they did not immediately recognize [its power]. But what people do not know the devils know beforehand and completely. This [event] shows that the Holy Cross really is the Lord’s instrument of Incarnation and Redemption, and that the devils are mortally afraid of it. But you also must realize that the devils’ knowledge far surpasses that of human beings. Without taking his refuge in the Great Lord, man clearly cannot free himself from the devils’ hands.28

In this well-knit argument, the Holy Cross lies at the center of the triangular relation between the incarnated Lord of Heaven, the devils, and man. Since the Lord makes the cross an instrument of redemption, man should rely on it to get away from the devils and meanwhile carry it to follow the Lord. Again, this sacred object is able to connect different spheres, whether practical or spiritual, magic or religion. Not surprisingly, the miraculous power of the cross continued to be a major subject in Aleni’s instructions to his convert disciples. On September 14, 1636, a feast day of Exaltation of the Holy Cross, he told the converts a story about the Holy Cross found by a king of Judea (Rudeya 如德亞) in the Great West. This king built a large temple for worship. Later some enemies attacked his army and carried the cross away. Deeply troubled, the king prayed to the Lord of Heaven for inspiration. Miraculously he defeated the enemies three times and took back the cross. He then decided to carry it in person onto the hill where the Lord was crucified. But the cross could not be carried forward even though he tried several times. A patriarch ( jiaozhu 教主) suggested that he put down his crown and costly robes. The king was awakened and changed into simple clothes just like those the Lord had worn. Then he was able to carry the cross up the hill.29 The story refers to the return of the Holy Cross to Jerusalem by the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius (575-641) in 628, after he defeated the Persians three times and recaptured Constantinople and Jerusalem.30 Heraclius was indeed advised by Zachary, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, to strip off royal garments during his pilgrimage, but Aleni consciously added several anecdotal components to extol the and shenggui 聖匱 (Holy Casket) for exorcism, miraculous healing, and rescues from disasters. See Lixiu yijian (CCT BnF ), vol. 7, pp. 187-221. 27

Zürcher 1985, pp. 357-376; id. 1990, pp. 443-449.

28

KDRC, p. 139; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 294.

29

KDRC, pp. 435-436.

30

Gibbon 1901, vol. 4, pp. 597-629.

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Christian religion: victories under the divine order, the Cross’ “refusal” of being carried by the king in his pomp and vanity, and the overarching role of a Christian patriarch. After telling this story, Aleni further elaborated on the four benefits of the Holy Cross: It is a staff to help people walk through various dangers in this world; it comforts people in suffering, as related in the story of Meise 梅 瑟 (i.e., Moses) throwing a piece of wood into the bitter water and thereby turning it sweet;31 it means forgiveness for sinners, just as Moses made a bronze snake and hung it on a cross-shaped wood to cure the victims of the snakes’ poison;32 finally, it is the key to open the door of Heaven, which has been closed due to the fall of man’s ancestors. These benefits represent a well-thought order from physical protection to spiritual purgation and redemption. Step by step, the converts are guided through their salvation with the help of this miraculous object. 5.1.2. Objects for Moral Perfection

As recorded in Kouduo richao, a number of practical instruments, such as the telescope, map, globe, astrolabe, armillary sphere, clavichord, and glass mirror, are also presented at times by Aleni and his confreres to the converts and other visitors. Unlike the miraculous objects, these ones are mostly scientific and technological by nature. How the Jesuits explain them and how they are perceived by the Chinese audience may diverge, though. As discussed before, Aleni and Rudomina intentionally shift the focus to some moralistic and religious meanings when presenting the telescope. On the other hand, the converts are enchanted by the mechanisms and visual effects of these marvelous instruments. They stimulate a strong taste for the exotic that overshadows the original scientific values. We can take the clavichord and the glass mirror as two more examples for the remarkable mutual appropriation between the Jesuits and Chinese viewers. The clavichord was presented by Rudomina to several visiting converts on May 8, 1631. They were very excited to have a close look at this outlandish object. Their glimpse of the exotic was not without a precedent. Thirty years ago, when Ricci submitted his “tributary” objects to Emperor Wanli, the clavichord also aroused great curiosity. The emperor ordered several eunuchs to study the skills for playing the instrument from Pantoja, then Ricci’s confrere in Beijing. Ricci also composed eight songs about moral and religious themes, to be accompanied by the clavichord. It was considered one of the biggest achievements of the early Jesuits in securing imperial favor. 33 Like Ricci, Rudomina also tried to attach moral implications to the marvelous instrument that had astounded the Chinese audience. He said: “In the human mind there also is a clavichord. If it is welltuned, its sounds are harmonious; if not, they are discordant. But each person has 31

Ex 15:22-27.

32

Nm 21:4-9.

33

For the Chinese texts, see Xiqin quyi bazhang, pp. 283-290. For research on these texts, see Li Sher-Shiueh 2001, pp. 27-57; Spence 1984, pp. 197-200.

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his own mind; he has to tune it by himself. In that respect it is different from dealing with something external.” 34 In his argument, Rudomina compared the tuning of a Xiqin (clavichord), or qin in general, to the inner harmony of the human mind. The clavichord was no longer an exotic foreign object as viewed by the converts, but rather an embodiment of personal and social morality more or less in correspondence with the established Confucian moralistic interpretations of music.35 The glass mirror was shown by Simon da Cunha during a visit to Haikou in 1635. Given the use of bronze mirrors in China, the glass mirror from the West must have attracted particular interest due to its distinct appearance and decoration. Indeed, the Jesuits did not bring the object to China only for personal use. It could serve as a present, as we see in Ricci’s submission of Western tributes to Emperor Wanli. 36 Or it might be simply shown to curious visitors, as was the case in Haikou. When several new converts talked about the glass mirror, da Cunha said: “A good friend is like a mirror that faithfully reflects your beauty or ugliness and does not hide the smallest stain or the slightest flaw. That is also how a good friend reveals your faults. One who hides your faults and sings your praise is worthless as a friend.”37 In this statement, we can detect his conscious shift of focus from the instrumental function of the glass mirror to the moral duty of a friend. It is interesting to note that the concept of friendship has been highly significant in both Western and Chinese traditions. Aristotle stated: “Perfect friendship is the friendship of men who are good, and alike in excellence; for these wish well alike to each other qua good, and they are good in themselves.”38 In the Lunyu, it is also said a gentleman should “refuse the friendship of all who are not like him,” “inform them [i.e., his friends] loyally and guide them discreetly,” “by his culture collect friends about him, and through these friends promote humaneness.”39 Given the similar concerns of the concept in both traditions, it is not surprising to see that Ricci’s Jiaoyou lun 交友論 (On Friendship, 1595) won great respect among the Confucian scholars who believed that good friendship could lead to moral improvement. 40 Ricci’s point was reinforced by the later Jesuits. In Kouduo richao and Wushi yan yu, Aleni explains true friendship as

34

KDRC, p. 109; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 263.

35

An example may be the “Yueji” 樂記 (Record on Music) chapter of the Liji 禮記 (Book of Rites), in which the harmony and disharmony in musical performance are said to be an important way in evaluating state politics and morality of the people.

36

Han – Wu 2006, pp. 20-21.

37

KDRC, p. 407; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 493.

38

Nicomachean Ethics, in Aristotle 1984, p. 1827.

39

Waley 1989, pp. 85, 170. I have changed Waley’s translation of ren 仁 from “goodness” to “humaneness” to keep consistency with the previous occurrences of the same word.

40

Spence 1984, pp. 149-151; HCC 1, pp. 604-605; Billings 2009, pp. 1-82.

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one frankly pointing out the other’s faults.41 Vagnone in Pixue 譬學 (The Science of Comparison, 1633) also employs the analogy between a good friend and a mirror that does not hide anything.42 In this sense, da Cunha’s argument may be considered yet another example of the adaptation strategy employed by the Jesuits. They first appeal to Chinese curiosity about those marvelous Western objects, be it telescope, clavichord, or glass mirror, but then shift the focus to a moralistic meaning through subtle appropriations or reinterpretations. The result, as one may expect, is a synthetic type of moral perfection blending Christian and Chinese traditions.

5.2. Edifying Paintings and Illustrations Among the various kinds of imported Western objects, Christian paintings and illustrations played a key role in the China mission during the late Ming period. The Jesuits directly imported to China religious icons, portraits, paintings, and engravings to impress Confucian literati, officials, and the emperor himself. Ricci, for example, adorned the first church in Zhaoqing with pictures of Christ and the Virgin Mary, submitted to Emperor Wanli the portraits of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and a few pictures of European architecture (i.e., the Spanish royal palace of El Escorial and St. Mark’s Basilica at Venice) and eminent persons (i.e., popes and kings), gave the engravings of the Madonna and Child and a few biblical episodes to the ink-maker Cheng Dayue for his album of ink-cake designs, and likely drew a Western-style landscape painting by himself.43 Later, Chinese reproductions of Jerónimo Nadal’s (1507–1580) Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593) appeared in woodblock prints for circulation in the newly established Chinese Catholic communities. The best-known ones included João da Rocha’s Song nianzhu guicheng, Aleni’s Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jixiang, and Adam Schall’s Jincheng shuxiang 進呈書像 (Books and Pictures Presented to the Emperor, 1640). These illustrated prints served as catechetical tools to represent fundamental Catholic doctrines, aids for prayer and spiritual contemplation, as well as efficacious charms in miracles of protection, healing, and exorcism.44 Moreover, they introduced European artistic techniques, such as chiaroscuro and perspective, which were not known to Chinese artists of the time. Ricci objected that Chinese people “know nothing of the art of painting in oil or of the use of perspective in their pictures, with the result that their productions are likely to resemble the dead rather than the living.”45 He may have misread Chinese artistic representations, but his comments reveal that he was

41

KDRC, p. 38; Aleni, Wushi yan yu (WXSB), p. 385.

42

Pixue, p. 588.

43

For studies on this subject, see Sullivan 1997, pp. 42-53; Tang Kaijian 2001, pp. 125, 128; Gu Weimin 2005, pp. 116-125.

44

Menegon 2007, pp. 392-394.

45

Gallagher 1953, p. 22.

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highly attentive to the major difference between Western arts and Chinese arts, and he regarded Western arts as a superior tradition. On the other hand, reception on the Chinese side was remarkably diverse. Chinese literati and artists could not avoid noticing the distinctive visual effects of Christian (or in general, Western) pictures in comparison with the Chinese ones, as the early Qing convert artist Wu Li summarized: “Our paintings do not seek physical likeness and do not depend on stereotyped patterns, thus the so-called subtle and detached style. Their paintings focus solely on [techniques of] yinyang and front and back, and devote their main efforts to fixed patterns of physical likeness.”46 Indeed, the “physical likeness” was the essential feature of Western paintings that attracted Chinese literati. In Kezuo zhuiyu 客座贅語 (Superfluous Talks in the Parlor, 1617), Gu Qiyuan writes: The Heavenly Lord is presented in picture as a little Child held in the arms of a woman called the Heavenly Mother. The picture is painted in five colors on a copper plate. The features are lifelike; the bodies, arms and hands seem to protrude tangibly from the picture. The concavities and convexities of the face are visually no different from a living person.47

This impression was echoed by other literati in their works, such as Ye Quan 葉權 (1522–1578), Wang Linheng 王臨亨 (1548–1601), and Jiang Shaoshu 姜紹書.48 However, Chinese artists were largely unimpressed with the “professional” character of Christian/Western paintings. The Qing artist Zou Yigui 鄒 一 桂 (1686–1772) wrote: Students of painting may well take over one or two points from [Europeans] to make their own paintings more attractive to the eye. But these painters have no brush-manner whatsoever; although they have skill, they are simply artisans and cannot consequently be classified as painters.49

To Zou and other Chinese artists, Western paintings were the trivial works of professionals and lacked the profound inspiration of Chinese literati. From a cross-cultural perspective, European art traditions introduced by the Jesuits seemed to exert only a modest, though arguably significant, influence in late Ming and early Qing China.50 One should note that the responses of Chinese converts apparently differed from those of the literati artists. In general, they expressed little criticism of the Western pictures, especially the Christian images that were either brought from the West or created in China. When looking at the Christian or Western pictures, they were visually astounded. But along with the Jesuits’ catechetical instructions, 46

Wu Li, Mojing huaba 墨井畫跋 (Postscripts to Paintings of Mojing Collection), in Zhang Wenqin 2007, p. 443.

47

Kezuo zhuiyu, 18b-19a. Here I use Lin Li-chiang’s translation. See id. 1998, pp. 222-223.

48

Sullivan 1997, p. 43.

49

Ibid., p. 80.

50

Bailey 1999, pp. 82-105; Mungello 2009, pp. 70-77.

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the converts could further appreciate the symbolic and allegorical meanings behind the pictorial representations. This was the case in the Fujian mission, as we can see in a few records of Kouduo richao. Aleni and his confreres took an adaptive approach to present the emblematic and illustrative images. For the local literati converts, on the other hand, the images came to typify a new religious life that blended Christian spiritual perfection and Confucian moral cultivation. 5.2.1. Emblematic Pictures

In Kouduo richao, Li Jiubiao records how three sets of Christian pictures are presented to him in person by Master Lu, i.e., Rudomina. Since all three events are dated within the year 1631, it could be possible that Rudomina had been planning to further circulate them as an aid to his preaching in Fuzhou. Two of these three sets may have been published later, but they did not seem to have survived.51 As they precede Aleni’s illustrated work on Christ’s life (published in 1637), these emblematic pictures of Rudomina offer us a glimpse of the Jesuits’ early efforts to visually transmit the Christian doctrines in Fujian. On March 1, 1631, after taking the prefectural examination in Fuzhou, Li Jiubiao pays a visit to Rudomina and asks whether he has a picture of the Last Judgment. Since Rudomina does not have such a picture, he shows Li four other pictures of hell, purgatory, heaven, and the crossroads of good and evil. Much impressed by the vividness and allegorical nature of these images, Li makes specific notes on each. In the very first image of hell, he sees a figure in the midst of a raging fire, with dishevelled hair and naked, his mouth open wide like a basket. At his side, two small figures fall into the fire and turn and roll over as if they could not bear the pain. According to Rudomina, these are souls in hell who scream out in agony. In the second picture, a figure holds his palms to his chest and sheds tears. The fires surround him, but there is no devil torturing him. The master explains that this is the soul in purgatory who accepts the Lord of Heaven. In the following picture, there is a well-dressed figure, gazing upwards and putting the hands on his chest, and with a peaceful and joyful countenance. Rudomina explains this as a soul in heaven showing his love to the Lord. These vivid images impressed Li so much that he could not help asking to see more.52 Rudomina shows the final picture whose allegorical meaning is quite challenging to Li. Three figures – a young man, an angel at his side, and a beautiful woman holding a cup of wine – are presented in the foreground. They face a highway of rising steps. It splits at the halfway into two roads. The road on the right is wide with trees and flowers, but at its end people fall down and are caught by the devils and taken to the raging fire. The road on the left is narrow and flanked with thorny shrubs. The place at the end is surrounded by clouds and

51

Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, p. 193.

52

KDRC, pp. 68-70; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 233-234.

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many angels. 53 Since Li does not understand the full meaning of these scenes, Rudomina offers edifying interpretations point by point: The young man is someone who does not yet have a fixed nature. The angel stands at his side for protection, while the devil assumes the appearance of a beautiful woman to seduce him with poisoned wine. The wide and easy road is the choice of those who indulge in the false pleasures of the world but who are doomed to become the servants of the devils. On the contrary, the narrow and difficult road is the choice of those devotees who can endure worldly hardships and tribulations without anger or complaint. They will finally become companions of the angels. Deeply moved, Li puts down his comments: After hearing all this I grew mortally afraid, and I was overwhelmed by sadness. I retired, and then thought to myself: “Such are the eternal sufferings in hell! Such are the temporary sufferings in purgatory! And as to heaven with its bliss, who but a devotee of immaculate conduct can climb up to it? Just consider how I, one single person, am both protected by an angel and seduced by a devil. Should I not be wary of the very beginning, where the ways of good and evil are parting? Should I not beware?54

Li’s positive response proves Rudomina’s effective use of both visual representation and verbal interpretation. The conversation vividly shows how edifying Catholic images are employed by a missionary for a catechetical purpose, and how they are received by a Chinese convert as the first step of his spiritual journey. Three weeks later, when Li Jiubiao was about to return to his home at Haikou, Rudomina told Li that he would give him his “heart” as a present. Li was first confused but then found out that the master in fact would show him a set of eighteen pictures of the heart (xintu 心圖), which has been recently identified as a later edition of Cor Jesu amanti sacrum (The Heart Consecrated to the Loving Jesus, 1586) by the Flemish engraver Anton II Wierix (ca. 1552–1604).55 When comparing the original images with the notes of Li Jiubiao, it seems clear that he carefully wrote down whatever Rudomina explained to him. The notes can be summarized as follows: 1. 2.

A crowd of saints hold up a heart as if they are respectfully offering it [to the Lord]. Half of the heart is caught in a net. Two figures above try to protect it, while the three figures in the lower part are trying to ensnare it into the net.

53

Standaert tentatively identifies this picture as a conflation of two copperplate prints in Via vitae aeternae (1620) by Antoine Sucquet (1574–1627). See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 235.

54

KDRC, p. 71; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 235.

55

Menegon 2007, pp. 396-400. Before this discovery, Pfister proposed that this set of pictures was made after the works of “P. Maunoir.” This is an unfounded opinion, because the French Jesuit Julien Maunoir (1606–1683) had not been active when Rudomina started his Fujian mission in the early 1630s. See Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, p. 193.

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3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

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Jesus knocks on the locked gate of the heart and leans forward with his ears to listen. The heart is opened and Jesus illuminates it with a torch, exposing all evil things in darkness. Jesus holds a broom and sweeps away all evil things from the heart. Jesus sprinkles water in the heart and cleanses it. Jesus lets his blood flow from his five wounds, and two angels bathe the newborns in his blood. Jesus sits upright in the clean heart, with draperies all around. Jesus explains the Scripture in the heart. The heart is divided into four areas, showing the Four Last Things (Death, the Last Judgment, Heaven, and Hell). Jesus carries the Holy Cross, along with various instruments of torture, into the heart. The heart is surrounded by roses, and Jesus plants more inside it. The angels play music on the four corners, and Jesus conducts the orchestra (?) inside. Jesus plays a harp (?) inside the heart, and the angels on the four corners sing songs. Jesus sleeps peacefully in the heart despite strong winds and raging waves outside. Jesus shoots fiery arrows into the heart. Flames flare upward in the heart. There are palm trees in the heart, with Jesus being seated above them.56

Even with a quick glance at Li’s notes, we recognise a number of symbolic icons. They would have been common knowledge to a European devotee of the time, but quite novel to a late Ming Chinese neophyte. Rudomina explains each picture along with the presentation. For the second picture, for example, he identifies the two figures above as angels and the three figures below as sanchou 三仇, i.e., Three Enemies in one’s life – flesh, devil, and the world. Even though the heart is trapped by these three enemies, Rudomina says, the Lord of Heaven will not cease his revelation and protection. In the seventh picture, not only are the stigmata of Christ illustrated, but the bathing of the newborn in his blood is also compared to the Lord’s grace of redemption for the human soul even after one’s baptism.57 56

KDRC, pp. 84-91. Here I refer to the translations of both Zürcher and Menegon. See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 245-251; Menegon 2007, pp. 401-410.

57

In the original Wierix series, the image depicts four streams of blood (or water?) flowing out of Jesus’ four limbs and three more streams flowing out the heart itself. The seven streams do not correspond with Rudomina’s expression of wushang 五傷 (five wounds), i.e., stigmata. See Menegon 2007, p. 404.

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Moreover, Rudomina carefully explains the symbolic meanings of roses and palm trees in the Christian faith: The roses represent virtues, whilethe palm trees represent victory. As a whole, these edifying pictures vividly show his convert audience a spiritual progress of the soul embodied by the heart, staring from temptations and fall, to purgation and illumination, to perfection with peace and happiness, and ending with the love of the Lord and triumph in the heavenly kingdom. It reminds us of the three-stage progress that Aleni explained to the Haikou converts on how to build a “temple of the Holy Spirit” inside the mind. Here Rudomina presents to Li a visualized version of one’s path to perfection through the Three Ways, the core of Ignatian spirituality. The pictures may have been generally used for confession and contemplation of a baptized Christian in the European context, but Rudomina turns them into a catechetical tool of fundamental indoctrination for a neophyte in the Chinese context.58 Li Jiubiao came back to Fuzhou at the beginning of May. Kouduo richao records his visit to the church on May 9 despite the rain. Being impressed by Li’s eagerness to learn, Rudomina exhorted him that life was no more than “a flash of lightning and a spark of flint” and one should grasp the time (shi 時) and the opportunity ( ji 機) to engage in self-cultivation. He then shows a set of pictures to Li. These are print illustrations from a book in a Western language, not yet translated into Chinese. The book most likely referred to Occasio Arrepta. Neglecta. Huius Commoda: Illius Incommoda (The Opportunity Grasped and Neglected. Advantageous for the Former, Injurious for the Latter, 1605), published by the Flemish printer Joannes Moretus (1543–1610). It contains twelve engravings by the Flemish artist Theodoor Galle (1571–1633) for the Typus occasionis in quo receptae commoda neglectae verò incommoda personato schemate proponuntur of the Jesuit Jan David (1546–1613).59 In this set of allegorical images, the two abstract concepts of time and opportunity are represented by two human figures: one carries an armillary sphere on his head, with a clepsydra in his left hand and a farming tool in his right hand; the other figure carries various tools on his body. Rudomina does not miss this chance to elaborate on the literary device of personification. From the second to the sixth illustrations, he explains that five of the ten figures are guided by the angels to make good use of time and opportunity, and the other five fall for the tricks of the devils and waste their time and opportunity. The next four illustrations show that time and opportunity are gone. The latter five figures are about to be pushed into hell and tortured, but they still have 58

Menegon 2007, p. 410.

59

Ibid., pp. 412-415. Previously, scholars such as Pfister and Szczesniak have wrongly interpreted this set of images as a Chinese work by Rudomina, titled Shifu qin dai tu 十幅 勤怠圖 (Ten Pictures of Diligence and Idleness). See Pfister 1932–1934, vol. 1, p. 193; DMB, p. 1148. Zürcher suggested that the set of ten pictures was incomplete and the book was not a bound volume. However, Li only mentions ten pictures. It is also possible that Rudomina selected ten out of the original twelve illustrations from the book, not necessarily “a portfolio with loose-leave prints.” See Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 269.

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a chance to ascend to heaven if they sincerely repent and ask for forgiveness from the Lord. The devils fail to finish the work they have undertaken. When explaining these allegorical images, Rudomina emphasizes the two themes of diligence and negligence, but pays little attention to the obvious exotic features in the visual representations. Moreover, though the pictures served the purpose of moral training of young students in Jesuit colleges in Europe, Rudomina seems to explain them with an implicit criticism of Chinese literati for their pursuit of worldly fame and success.60 Therefore, he presents a different version of Jesuit emblematica in the Chinese context through his conscious selection and reinterpretation. At the end of this episode, Li Jiubiao puts down his response to Master Lu’s instruction by means of emblematic images. He writes: After having received this instruction, I reflected on its meaning time and again. I thought by myself: “The contrast between heaven and hell is so absolute, and yet it has arisen from a single moment of indecision, when diligence competed with negligence. As a result one will either ascend to the highest heaven or fall down into the deepest hell. Should one not be cautious at the very beginning? On the other hand it is possible to reform oneself, even on the brink of death. But what about the attitude of those who refuse to change their plans even while the bell is sounding and the clepsydra is running out?”61

In this reflection, Li clearly indicates his willingness to seize the moment and “reform” himself in a Christian sense. Yet, his understanding is still partly based on his own experience as a Confucian scholar. The principle embedded in the choice between diligence and negligence resembles Wang Shouren’s theory of the unity of knowledge and action (zhi xing heyi), underpinned by the concept of liangzhi, or innate knowledge. In Chuanxi lu, when a disciple asks about the essential meaning of zhi xing heyi, Wang answers: The studies of present people simply separate knowledge and action as two things. Therefore, when a thought starts, though it is not good, as long as it is not yet done they would not forbid it. Now when I speak about the unity of knowledge and action, it is to let people know that whenever a thought starts it is already an action. If there is evil at the starting point, I will overcome the evil thought. This work must be thorough, not letting the evil thought hide in my mind. This is the principal point of my theory.62

According to Wang, innate knowledge is the real substance of the mind and the foundation of all other types of knowledge. On the other hand, it is the real knowledge that immediately brings about proper moral action. Hence, not to do what is known as correct cannot properly be called knowledge. 63 This twofold theory indicates a subjectivist tendency, which explains why Wang says that 60

Menegon 2007, pp. 428-431.

61

KDRC, pp. 115-116; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 268.

62

See Chuanxi lu, p. 96.

63

Rong Zhaozu 1982, pp. 102-107.

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“whenever a thought starts it is already an action.” As Wang emphasizes the use of innate knowledge in examining a thought at the start, Li Jiubiao likewise highlights a man’s initial “decision” in choosing between diligence and negligence. Bearing this type of Neo-Confucian thinking in mind, Li adds a layer of his own interpretation on top of what Rudomina has just asserted about the emblematic images. One can see in this example how new meanings are superimposed onto the old ones in the course of a real dialogue. 5.2.2. Illustrated Life of Christ

In addition to the emblematic pictures shown by Rudomina, Aleni’s Tianshu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie can be seen as another important visual aid in spreading the Christian religion in late Ming Fujian. It is one of the three major Chinese reproductions of Jerónimo Nadal’s original work Evangelicae Historiae Imagines, which contains 153 engravings on Jesus’ life in company with the contemplative text Adnotationes et Meditationes.64 By the 1610s, several copies of this monumental work had been sent to China upon the requests of the Jesuit missionaries, including Matteo Ricci and Niccolò Longobardo.65 This enabled da Rocha to publish the Song nianzhu guicheng in Nanjing. In this work fifteen images from Evangelicae Historiae Imagines were selected as illustrations of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, one of the most popular meditative prayers in medieval Europe. 66 The Chinese reproduction shows a number of technical differences 64

For studies on Nadal’s book in the 16th-century European context, see D’Elia 1939, pp. 78-83; Miguel 1949, pp. 114-132, 166-188; Rheinbay 1997, pp. 324-326.

65

Nicolò Longobardo sent a letter to Claudio Acquaviva on October 18, 1598 requesting a copy of Nadal’s work. See Miguel 1949, p. 180; D’Elia 1939, p. 80; Criveller 1997, pp. 234-235. In two of his letters written from Beijing, one written in February 1605 to Father Ludovico Maselli (1538–1604) and the other on May 12 in the same year to Father Giovanni Alvarez (1548 – ca. 1625), Ricci mentioned a copy of Nadal’s work acquired by Manuel Dias in Nanjing and requested that more copies be sent to China. See Luo Yu 1986, vol. 4, pp. 271-272, 300-301.

66

SNZGC, pp. 521-574. The text is bound together with Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng. The Rosaries had a long history in medieval Europe. Most of the early Rosaries were related to the psalters, written for lay people who could not easily recall the life of Jesus or the Virgin Mary through imageless meditation. The narrative in a Rosary was usually short and easy to understand and the readers had the freedom to choose different sets for their meditations. As a result, from the late 15th to mid-16th centuries, there appeared Rosaries with varied sets (200, 165, 150, 93, 63, 33, 12, and 5 meditations) and contents (patron saints, Ave prayer acrostics, Marian litanies, etc.). The standard version with the papal approval in 1569 has a set of fifteen meditations chosen for narrative coherence and simplicity. See Winston-Allen 1997, pp. 25-26. Da Rocha’s Rosary follows this standard version. It is different from another translated Rosary by Longobardo, which contains 33 meditations on Jesus and 63 meditations on the Virgin Mary, based on their life spans, a clear reflection of the influence of early European Rosaries. For the evolvement of the medieval Rosaries, see Winston-Allen 1997, pp. 22-26. For studies on Song nianzhu guicheng, see HCC 1, pp. 812-813; Criveller 1997, pp. 237-238, and Qu Yi 2012. For Longobardo’s translation of the Rosary, see WXSB, vol. 3, pp. 1111-1146.

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between European copperplate engravings and Chinese woodblock prints, and it presents new scenes with typical Chinese artistic styles. In 1640, Adam Schall published a Chinese illustrated work titled Jincheng shuxiang. It contains 46 pictures and textual descriptions, translated from a Flemish book (published in 1623) on the life of Christ that took as model Nadal’s masterpiece and other contemporary print illustrations. He submitted it to Emperor Chongzhen together with a set of European engravings on the life of Jesus Christ, donated by Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria (1573–1651).67 This work did not receive much attention in the late Ming, but three pictures from it – Jesus entering Jerusalem, Jesus carrying the Cross, and Jesus’ crucifixion – were copied by the early Qing scholar Yang Guangxian in his anti-Christian work Budeyi 不得已 (I Cannot Do Otherwise, 1665) to demonstrate that Christianity was an evil religion of the foreign barbarians.68 Compared with da Rocha’s and Adam Schall’s reproductions, Aleni’s Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie carries a special purpose. As discussed before, Aleni and his confreres intensified their efforts to introduce the Jesuits’ spiritual exercises among the Fujian converts in the late 1630s. It was a major principle of the first Jesuits, including St. Ignatius and Nadal, to use texts and images in the cultivation of a Christ-centered spirituality. 69 Through a combined use of textual narratives and pictorial illustrations, the exercises may help one meditate on important biblical episodes and obtain deeper experiences of God’s love, grace, and redemption. Aleni’s work in the Fujian mission definitely fulfilled the purpose of Ignatian spiritual training. His homilies and discussions with local converts on biblical episodes may have benefited from the illustrations of his work. Aleni’s Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe, along with the Tianshu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, gave birth to a new genre in Chinese Christian literature – biographies of Jesus – which remained popular throughout the Qing period.70 Chinese readers, be they converts or non-believers, could read the major episodes of the life of Jesus and meanwhile enjoy looking at dozens of illustrative pictures. At a time when the Bible had not yet been translated into Chinese, Aleni’s works served as a simplified, abridged version of the Four Gospels. There were many later editions of Tianshu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie following its first printing in 1637, and the illustrations in these editions vary considerably. The standard edition has 56 illustrations, starting with the conception of St. John the Baptist and ending with the coronation of the Virgin Mary, plus a foldout map of Jerusalem. Another commonly seen edition lacks a few images compared to the former edition and has 51 illustrations, not including the map.71 67

HCC 1, p. 813; Criveller 1997, p. 243. For a comprehensive study on Schall’s pictures, see Standaert 2007.

68

Budeyi, pp. 1135-1142.

69

Rheinbay 1997, pp. 324-325.

70

Pan Feng-chuan 2009, pp. 111-112; Song Gang 2011b, pp. 211-231.

71

Sun Yuming 2003, pp. 476-477.

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The layout of the illustrations appears to be the same in both editions: titles at the top, images in the middle, and numbered captions at the bottom. Except for the cover page, this layout follows Nadal’s original work, rather than “adopting” the layout design popular in Chinese illustrative prints.72 However, Aleni’s reproduction does change the format of the captions to cater to the expectations of Chinese writing and reading. They are written vertically, not horizontally, and were intended to be read right to left, not left to right. In most illustrations, the text ends with a reference to the corresponding volume and entry in Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe. The device suggests that the work indeed served as a pictorial supplement to Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe. In a mid-Qing edition, for example, these two texts are bound together almost like a single work.73 Though Aleni’s illustrations look more faithful than the ones in da Rocha’s Song nianzhu guicheng, it is clear that Aleni adopts certain Chinese elements in his reproduction as well. Those mixed visual representations mirror the hybrid Christian–Confucian identity that he has strived for through years of oral instructions and written works. The pictorial blending between the Christian and the Chinese, if not exclusively the Confucian culture is reflected on thematic, stylistic, and technical levels. This can be verified by comparing the title page of Aleni’s reproduction to Nadal’s original. The title page in Nadal’s Evangelicae Historiae Imagines apparently uses perspective and chiaroscuro in line with the medieval tradition in rendering the figure of Jesus inside a niche-like background (Fig. 1). This three-dimensional effect, however, disappears in Aleni’s reproduction (Fig. 2). Two factors seem to cause this change: First, as is notable in all of Aleni’s illustrations, the Chinese engraver was not very skilled in depicting light and shade. Though he tried to imitate the Western originals in a faithful manner, it still proved to be technically difficult to achieve such subtle effects in Chinese woodcut printing of the time. Second, in the Chinese reproduction, the main elements of the background, such as the arch, the poles, and the decorative pendants on both sides, are removed. As a result, the reproduced title page looks rather like a disproportional “zoomin” view of the central part of the original picture. As far as the composition is concerned, the original and the reproduction look similar in some aspects, such as the two angels holding the sign of IHS (emblem of the Society of Jesus) and the six angels surrounded by clouds on both sides of Jesus. However, when we compare both title pages more carefully, we can notice major differences with regard to two key elements of the original image. First, the depiction of Jesus differs in a number of respects: Unlike in the original, the cloak of Jesus in Aleni’s reproduction is depicted in a different style with decorative laces. His two hands in the original reach out showing the stigmata, but in the Chinese reproduction they are changed to gestures modelled after the popular Renaissance icon Salvator Mundi: his right hand is raised half-open,

                                                             72

He – Luo 2008, p. 88.

73

Pan Feng-chuan 2009, p. 135.

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with the third and the little fingers folded, to symbolize blessing, while the left hand holds a Cross on top of a celestial globe to represent the universe. 74 As symbols of the Christian religion and Western sciences, the two objects lie at the core of the Jesuits’ introduction of the Tianxue. It is obvious that Aleni by superposing such an icon onto Nadal’s original image intends to further promote the Jesuits’ adaptation strategy in China. On the other side, the Chinese audience most likely was not aware of Aleni’s subtle change, but to them the symbolic gestures of the incarnated Lord of Heaven looked similar to two Buddhist gestures – the Abhaya mudrā (mudrā of no fear) of the right hand and the Bhūmisparsa mudrā (mudrā of touching the earth) of the left hand – which can be often seen in Buddhist arts. Second, there are also major differences in the depiction of the four evangelists and the four living creatures. The portraits of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are shown at the four corners of the picture. It is interesting to note that Aleni identifies them as shengshi 聖史 (saint historians), because their writings (i.e., the gospels) are faithful and substantial accounts on the life of the incarnated Lord of Heaven. The title not only affirms the religious identity of the four evangelists as saints, but it also suggests their equally high secular status as historians. Aleni’s emphasis on the latter might come from his awareness of the fact that historical writing has long been accorded special prestige in Confucian scholarship. His conscious appropriation of this tradition is more noticeable in the preface to Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe, in which he repeatedly employs expressions like truthfulness, thoroughness, and accuracy of the Four Gospels to remind a Chinese reader that they are comparable to the established standards in Chinese historical works. Moreover, Aleni describes the function of these accounts as “the golden needle to cure (the sickness of) a society and the great Dao to exhort the people,” an expression clearly aligned with the didactic values of historical writings advocated by Chinese historians.75 One may notice a fusion of different components from Chinese history and Western/Christian history throughout Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe. As it turned out, Aleni deliberately “translated” the Christian scriptures into secular, historical narratives of late Ming China, thus re-creating the first Chinese biography of Jesus.76

74

Chen Hui-hung 2010, pp. 73-74.

75

TZJSYXJL, p. 25.

76

Song Gang 2011b, pp. 219-231.

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Fig. 1. Jerónimo Nadal (1507–1580), Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), title page (reprinted in 1595 edition as frontispiece), courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B24301)

If one looks at the picture carefully, one will notice that each of the “sacred historians” is accompanied by a living creature. In medieval theology, all four creatures carry symbolic meanings: a man (or angel) by Matthew’s side refers to Christ’s human nature, a lion by Mark’s side refers to Christ as a king, an ox by Luke’s side refers to Christ as the sacrifice to redeem the sinful ones, and an eagle by John’s side refers to Christ as the universal saviour.77 77

For a biblical description of the four living creatures in the New Testament, see Rv 4 6-9. For the relations between the quadriform evangelists and animals, see Augustine, The Harmony of the Gospels, Book I, Chapter 6, Catholic Encyclopedia, online at http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1602106.htm (accessed March 12, 2018).

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Fig. 2. Giulio Aleni (1582–1649), after Jerónimo Nadal, Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, title page, 1637, courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University (52-1049)

These special creatures, together with the four figures, are not on the title page of the 1593 edition Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Fig. 1), but they appear on the title page of the 1595 work Adnotationes et meditationes in evangelia, the supplementary text intended for devotional meditations (Fig. 3). Hence, the European model for Aleni’s reproduction could be a copy of the latter edition brought to China by the Jesuits, though in the latter a few noticeable changes (e.g., the evangelists were depicted in a sitting position rather than a standing position) have been made to fit these four additional images on the same title page.78 78

Information kindly provided by Professor Felix Just, S.J. from the University of San Francisco. These two editions have all 153 illustrations digitally reproduced at http://catholicresources.org/Art/Nadal.htm (accessed March 12, 2018).

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Fig. 3. Jerónimo Nadal (1507–1580), Adnotationes et meditationes in Evangelia (published together with Evangelicae Historiae Imagines, Antwerp, 1595), title page, courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B11591)

In addition to the above-mentioned differences, the text in the picture is also adapted for the Chinese audience. First, the Chinese titles Tianzhu jiangsheng shengxiang 天主降生聖像 (The Holy Image of the Incarnated Lord of Heaven) and Zhushen zhanyang shengrong, si sheng jilu lingji 諸神瞻仰聖容，四聖記錄 靈蹟 (The Angels Look at His Holy Face in Admiration, and the Four Saints Record the Miracles) are not literal translations of the original title of Nadal’s work. Second, in the original title page a quotation from the Gospel of Matthew is inscribed below Jesus.79 In the reproduction it is replaced by a Chinese poem in 79

See Mt 11:28. The Latin text is “Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis et ego reficiam vos,” which means in English, “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

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a fu 賦-like meter, written by Xu Leshan 許樂善 (1548–1627), a high official convert and close friend of Xu Guangqi. 80 Xu’s name and the title “Tianzhu xiangzan” 天主像贊 (Eulogy on the Image of the Lord of Heaven) are not specified, but the whole poem is copied: He is the Master who established heaven and earth,

立天地之主宰，

He is the root and origin of all creatures. He has no beginning if we trace back the past, He has no ending if we proceed to the future. His presence extends to the whole universe without room left, He transcends earthly creatures. Originally without any form to be compared with, The image is a remnant trace of His incarnation. He reveals his divinity and universal love, He exhorts and admonishes with perfect justice. His position is supreme, with no one above Him,

肇人物之根宗。 推之於前無始， 引之於後無終。 彌六合兮無間， 超庶類兮非同。 本無形之可擬， 乃降生之遺容。 顯神化以博愛， 昭勸懲以大公。 位至尊而無上，

His reasoning is subtle and inexhaustible.

理微妙而無窮。

In this poem, Xu mentions the distinctive characters of the Lord of Heaven, including his creation, eternity, omnipresence, incarnation, love, justice, sublime position, and wisdom. By blending the Christian message into a traditional Chinese literary form, Xu deliberately adapts the Christian religion from a literati perspective. Aleni, however, makes good use of Xu’s poem as a support to his pictorial representation of the Lord of Heaven. The process shows a sequence of reciprocal adaptations in between the self and the other, featuring a parallel of text and image as well as a fusion of the Christian and the Chinese. The thematic and stylistic mixture can also be demonstrated by another example: the scene of Nativity. In Nadal’s original image, the three lines at the top, In nocte natalis domini (On the Night of the Birth of the Lord), Nativitas Christi (Birth of Christ), and Luc ii, Anno i, indicate the gospel episode to be used according to the Roman liturgical calendar, the descriptive title of the scene, and the reference in the Bible (Fig. 4). The picture contains the main scene of the nativity in the foreground and other related scenes in the background, all marked by Roman letters keyed to corresponding notes in the lower part. For example, in a scene marked by the letter “E” some angels are depicted in the clouds. Three of 80

The question of the authorship of this poem has been raised by Fang Hao, who identifies Xu Leshan but gives the wrong title Yesu xiangzan 耶穌像贊 (Laudations on the Picture of Jesus). See Fang Hao 1988, vol. 1, p. 101. Many sources mistakenly attribute the poem to Xu Guangqi. See Wang Xiaochao 1998, p. 112; Dudink 2001a, p. 139. Sun Yuming follows Fang Hao’s view and keeps the wrong poem title. See Sun Yuming 2003, pp. 480-481. Huang Yi-long gives the correct title Tianzhu xiangzan and locates the poem in Xu Leshan’s work Shizhizhai gao 適志齋稿 (Writings from the Studio of Following the Will). In Huang’s quotation, however, two lines (本無形之可擬, 乃降生之遺容) are missing and the line 超庶類兮非同 is rendered as 貫庶類兮攸同. See Huang Yi-long 2006, p. 85.

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them hold a ribbon inscribed with the words “Gloria in altissimis Deo” (Glory to God in the Highest). The corresponding note “E” below explains that the angels are worshipping the newborn Jesus. Arranged in alphabetical order, these notes indicate how Chinese converts could use the images to visualize gospel episodes for devotional activities, e.g., prayers and meditations.

Fig. 4. “Nativitas Christi,” from Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), Jerónimo Nadal, courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B24301)

In Aleni’s reproduction, there appear several noticeable changes (Fig. 5). First, there is only one line at the top presenting the title “Birth of Jesus, the Lord of Heaven.” The liturgical indicator and biblical reference have been omitted. Second, as we have seen in the title page above, the Western left to right writing is changed to a traditional Chinese one, i.e., right to left and top to bottom. Third, Aleni transcribes the Western alphabetical order into the popular Chinese ordinal

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set, consisting of ten “heavenly stems” and twelve “earthly branches.” In his translation, Aleni also combines the descriptions with letters “H,” “I,” and “K” from the original picture into one and puts them in the Chinese entry numbered xin 辛 (eighth character from the right). Fourth, the signature of the European engraver Hieronymus Wierx (1553–1619) at the bottom of the original picture is removed in the Chinese reproduction and not replaced with that of the Chinese engraver.

Fig. 5. “Tianzhu Yesu jiangdan” 天主耶穌降誕 (Birth of Jesus, the Lord of Heaven), from: Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, Giulio Aleni, 1637, courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University (52-1049)

These stylistic changes suggest that Aleni intended a simplified version that could be easily understood by a Chinese reader on the one hand, and on the other hand, he would keep the key components in the reproduced picture. Of course, this adaptive treatment opened more room for Aleni to bring in some further Chinese

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themes. One can easily notice that the ribbon held by the angels remained in the reproduction, but the inscription had been changed to the non-biblical expression, “Glorify the Lord of Heaven Above, Harmonize the Virtuous People Below” (Shang rong yu Tianzhu, xia he yu shanren 上榮於天主,下和於善人). The unity of the divine and the humane, or the spiritual and the moralistic, is clearly a result of the hybrid Christian–Confucian spiritual and moral learning developed by the Jesuits and Fujian converts in the 1630s. In this case, they reinterpret both the Confucian concept of the unity of heaven and man (tianren heyi 天人合一) and the Catholic concept of divinity.

Fig. 6. “Annunciatio,” from Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), Jerónimo Nadal, courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B24301)

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Aleni’s hybrid visual representation is different from da Rocha’s in Song nianzhu guicheng, though both of them took the same Western source as a model. For one thing, as modern scholars have argued, Aleni’s illustrations seem to be more “faithful” to the originals than da Rocha’s, which are characterized by further “simplification and adaptation.”81 We can see the obvious difference by comparing the scene of Annunciation reproduced in these two Chinese works. In the original image, the angel Gabriel is depicted coming to the house of the Virgin Mary for the announcement. Mary, standing beside a lectern, humbly lowers her head and accepts the divine incarnation (Fig. 6). The picture is so drastically revised by da Rocha that several major iconographic elements are omitted in his reproduction. The layout in multiple separate scenes is reduced to one scene, the meeting of Gabriel and Mary in the foreground, without depicting the other important sub-scenes, especially God’s declaration in heaven (in the upper left corner) and the death of Jesus (at the left side). Mary looks like a Chinese woman (similar to the typical image of the wellknown Buddhist Goddess Guanyin), kneeling down in front of a Chinese stool. In the background is a Chinese screen decorated with landscape painting. The roof tiles, windows, and stairs are characteristic of a house in Chinese style. The tree and the rockery, both typical of Chinese landscape paintings, are added to replace the two sub-scenes in the original (Fig. 7). As a result, da Rocha and the Chinese artist transform the European image into a Chinese one, both thematically as well as in stylistic and technical terms.82 In comparison, the scene of the Annunciation reproduced by Aleni truly appears to be more “faithful” to the original (Fig. 8). The major components in the main scene and the sub-scenes are kept, albeit with slight revisions. For example, in the small scene on Jesus’ death, the two criminals being crucified are not shown in the reproduction and only two figures, not four as in the original, stand beside the crucified Jesus. The texts below the picture correspond to the original made by Nadal, and are translated and numbered in a Chinese pattern. Modern scholars have proposed different interpretations as to why da Rocha made a radical adaptation while Aleni did not. 83 Probable reasons could have been, among others, the authority of Nadal’s work, skills of the Chinese artists, and purposes for the reproductions. On a still deeper level, they indicate diverse visual representations and receptions of the Christian other during the late Ming. Therefore, it is too simple to reduce the interpretation to a mere observation of varying degrees of faithfulness to the original. One should further examine the strategic functions of an image or an inscription, or a combination of both elements, adopted by a Jesuit by his own purposes. In this sense, da Rocha’s repro81

Rheinbay 1997, p. 330; Criveller 1997, p. 239; Zürcher 1990, p. 438, fn. 47.

82

The Chinese artist is said to be Dong Qichang 董其昌 (1555–1636), or possibly one of his students. See Rheinbay 1997, p. 329; Criveller 1997, p. 237. However, there is no evidence for a direct link between Dong and the Jesuits in the late Ming period.

83

For a summary of the explanations, see Criveller 1997, p. 242.

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duction may seem remote from the original, but his explanation for the mystery of the Annunciation remains essentially Christian: it describes how to chant the “Ave,” how to meditate on Gabriel’s announcement and the Virgin Mary’s answer, and how to pray for the grace of Jesus by way of the compassionate Holy Mother.84 Aleni’s reproduction, on the other hand, shows a hybrid feature consistent with his writings and oral instructions: Christian elements and Chinese elements coexist at different levels, not to be confronted with each other but to be mutually adapted to form a harmonious whole. The result, therefore, may be called a “dialogic” visualization of the other.

Fig. 7. “Annunciation,” from Song nianzhu guicheng (Rules for Reciting the Rosary, 1619), João da Rocha (1565–1623), courtesy of Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Rome, Jap-Sin I 43

84

SNZGC, pp. 521-523.

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Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie is not specified in Kouduo richao, possibly due to its late publication in 1637 and the impact of anti-Christian persecutions from 1638 to 1639. However, Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe is mentioned by Li Jiubiao as a reference to Aleni’s instruction on the Lord’s commandments.85 This episode, dated July 17, 1639, reveals that by this time the work has been circulated among the local converts in Fujian. Moreover, Aleni’s discussion with his converts on how to contemplate the mystery of Visitation, as discussed in the previous chapter, likely involves both word and image. Aleni only specifies the beginning and the end of the whole event. It begins with Mary’s getting to know of Elisabeth’s pregnancy and her three-day trip to the latter’s home, and ends with her return after John’s birth. Both points exactly match the descriptions in Aleni’s two works mentioned above.86 Concerning the episodes in between, Aleni asks his converts to express their personal experiences. Again, most of their answers seem to be based on the key points in Aleni’s reproduced illustration of the scene. The Fujian mission in the 1630s offered a promising prospect for Aleni to reach the ultimate goal of the Jesuit mission in China – a universal salvation which now included the Chinese people. He had shown his versatile practical knowledge to the converts and also instructed them on how to make progress in spiritual and moral learning. Therefore, upon their conversion they could also be called the “sons” of the Lord of Heaven, which explains why a group of Chinese worshippers are inserted in the last illustration on Mary’s coronation in Aleni’s Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie. The original image by Nadal is titled “Assumitur Maria in coelum, coronatur á sanctiss. trinitate” (Mary is Assumed into Heaven, and Crowned by the Most Holy Trinity) (Fig. 9). There is a three-part layout: the coronation scene at the top, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary with Christ in the middle, and sixteen worshippers at the bottom. Aleni’s reproduction, however, only presents the top and the bottom parts while the middle part of the Assumption scene is missing. The top scene, i.e., the coronation, originally the smallest in scale, is enlarged so that it becomes the most appealing part in the revised Chinese representation. Although the key iconographic elements – the Virgin with her hands crossed in the center, the Father and the Son on her sides, and the Holy Spirit as a dove – remain unchanged, they only differ from the original by their costumes and the symbolic objects (globe-cross set and wand) they hold. What is more striking is the appearance of Chinese figures at the lower left part of Aleni’s illustration. Based on their respective headgear, they can be identified as members of different classes and professions: officials, scholars, soldiers, and commoners (Fig. 10).87

85

KDRC, p. 547.

86

TZJSCXJJ, p. 532; TZJSYXJL, pp. 51-52.

87

Sheng Congwen 2002, vol. 32, pp. 449-477.

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Aleni’s intention to include Chinese figures in his reproduction is discernible in the brief captions below the pictures. They not only praise the glorious position of the Holy Mother in Heaven, but also extend her blessing and grace to all nations. The first caption ( jia 甲) says: “The Holy Trinity crowns the Holy Mother and name her the Queen Mother of all saints and angels.”

Fig. 8. “Shengmu ling Shangzhu jiangyu zhibao” 聖母領上主降孕之報 (Annunciation of the Lord to the Holy Mother), from: Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, 1637, Giulio Aleni, courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University (52-1049)

The second ( yi 乙) reads: “The nine ranks of angels worship the Holy Mother.” The third (bing 丙) reads: “The emperors, kings, scholars, and common people

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from all countries pray that the Holy Mother be the patron and benevolent mother for ten thousand generations.” Finally the fourth caption (ding 丁) concludes: “People from ten thousand regions respectfully build temples to honor the Holy Mother and receive from her all sorts of grace and protection.”88

Fig. 9. “Assumitur Maria in coelum, coronatur à sanctiss.trinitate,” from: Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (Antwerp, 1593), Jerónimo Nadal, courtesy of Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (86-B24301)

88

For the third and the fourth descriptions, I have adopted Criveller’s translations with a few modifications. See Criveller 1997, p. 241.

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Through this special treatment of image and word, Aleni again reinterprets the Christian and the Chinese, thus presenting a reconstructed picture of the universal salvation.

Fig. 10. “Shengmu duanmian ju zhu shensheng zhi shang” 聖母端冕居諸神聖之上 (Coronation of the Holy Mother above All Angels and Saints), from: Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie, 1637, Giulio Aleni, courtesy of Houghton Library, Harvard University (52-1049)

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5.3. Essentials of Liturgical Life From the above analysis, we know how the Christian faith was visualized by means of various objects and images. The dynamic exchanges between the Jesuits and Chinese converts on this aspect contributed to the construction of a hybrid religio-cultural identity in late Ming Fujian. However, the complex visual representation and reception of the Christian other is also manifested in another sphere – ritual practices – that not only involved individual devotion but also extended to community organization and even broader social dimensions. The spiritual and moral learning of Fujian converts must have followed a relatively consistent pattern based on the standard Catholic liturgical calendar, as we can see in Kouduo richao. Though Li Jiubiao and the other compilers did not record in detail how the major sacraments, such as baptism, confession, and the mass, were performed on corresponding feast days, the homilies delivered by the Jesuits, and the conversations between them and Chinese converts may be linked in one way or another to daily liturgical experiences. They endeavoured to make these nonChinese sacraments visibly meaningful to a communal life among Chinese Christians, and meanwhile searched for mutually acceptable ways to treat problematic Chinese rituals, especially marriage and funeral. The phenomenal shaping of a Christian liturgical life in China resulted from decades of accumulated efforts made by both missionaries and Chinese converts. As early as in the 1580s, Ruggieri and Ricci had already begun to introduce the major sacraments in their newly founded residence in Zhaoqing.89 In his Tianzhu shilu, Ruggieri introduces the terms shagemianduo 唦㗆喕哆 (sacraments) and maodishimo (baptism) and the important function of jingshui 淨水 (pure water, i.e., Holy Water).90 Similarly, in Tianzhu shiyi, Ricci explains the use of Holy Water for one to cleanse “the faults in one’s mind” and “enter the gate” of God’s sacred teaching.91 Both of them put forth a clear message on the key role of baptism, which was reinforced by later Jesuits in prescriptive texts and liturgical administrations. After the Jesuits gained a foothold in China, they published introductory works on all Seven Sacraments, such as Shengjing yuelu and Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe.92 Among the works published in the 1610s and the 89

Gallagher 1953, pp. 180-181, 202-203.

90

TZSL, pp. 57, 78-80.

91

TCSI, pp. 454-455.

92

Shengjing yuelu, pp. 111-116; TZJYJL, pp. 221-240. The Chinese transliterations of these sacraments in Latin are identical and in the same order in these works: badisimo 拔弟斯摩 (baptisma); gongfei’ermazang 共斐兒瑪藏 (confirmatio); gongmengyang 共蒙仰 (communio); bainidengjiya 白尼登濟亞 ( poenitentia); e’sidelemawengzang 阨斯得肋麻翁藏 (extremus unctio); a’erdeng 阿兒等 (ordo), madilimoniu 瑪地利摩紐 (matrimonium). These transliterations are simplified in Tianzhu jiaoyao, with seven two-syllable words: xidi 洗滌 (baptism), jianzhen 堅振 (confirmation), Shengti 聖體 (Eucharist), tongjie 痛解 ( penitence), zhongfu 終傅 (Extreme Unction), pinji 品級 (Holy Orders), and hunpei 婚配 (Matrimony), which were later used as standard liturgical terms. See TZJY, pp. 339-345.

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1620s, Pangzi yiquan, Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng, and Tian–Shi mingbian also mention the different aspects of the sacraments. 93 Their continuous efforts to create a liturgical literature was in line with the established tradition of the Catholic Church and in a way echoed the canons issued at the Council of Trent (1545– 1563) to re-confirm the Church’s authority on the sacraments.94 More practically, these works contributed to a greater degree of ritual normality along with the fast growth of Chinese Catholic communities during the late Ming period. Largely due to the fast expansion of the Fujian mission, Aleni published a series of works on Catholic sacraments between 1627 and 1644, such as Dizui zhenggui, Huizui yaozhi, Misa jiyi, Shengti yaoli, and Shengti daowen. The contents of these works mainly focus on two sacraments – confession and Eucharist. Aleni’s particular concerns for these two sacraments indicate that they must have become very common liturgical practices following baptism. 95 In Aleni’s own words, these major sacraments should be considered among the Christian “classics” in parallel with the Confucian Classics. Fujian converts, on the other hand, also made great efforts to promote a new liturgical life. In Kouduo richao, Li Jiubiao records numerous occasions of active exchanges on the topics of baptism, confession, and Eucharist between the Jesuits, converts, and non-Christian visitors. As a catechist in Quanzhou, Zhang Geng wrote the treatise Tianzhu qinli lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li to explain the importance of baptism and confession. Moreover, some converts (e.g., Li Jiugong) paid much attention to native Chinese rituals, such as ancestral worship, veneration of Confucius, marriage, and funeral, which were somewhat problematic from a Christian point of view. Not only did they continue the legacy of Aleni in the Fujian mission, they also participated in the heated debates on these controversial rituals during the early Qing period. 5.3.1. Baptism

In face of increasing demands from the newly founded Catholic communities, the Jesuits printed many prescriptive texts on baptism. Some of them, including Alfonso Vagnone’s Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe (1615) and François de Rougemont’s Shengjiao yaoli liuduan 聖教要理六端 (Six Essential Doctrines of the Sacred Religion, ca. 1670) gave catechetical explanations on baptism together with the other sacraments, so that Chinese catechumens could obtain an overall picture of the Catholic liturgies. Some scriptural-based texts contain explanatory notes on baptism to justify its authenticity and authority in the Christian tradition. To enforce standard and formality, texts with detailed instructions on how to perform the sacrament in practice were also added. Though these texts only took up a 93

PZYQ, pp. 165-170; TZSJQM, pp. 482-495; TSMB, pp. 396-407.

94

Collinson 1990, pp. 233-266. For analyses of the theological disputations between the Catholic Church and Protestant leaders in the sixteenth century, see McGrath 1998, pp. 177-200.

95

HCC 1, pp. 624-625.

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small portion among the hundreds of Chinese Christian texts, they contributed to the formation of a remarkable baptismal tradition in late Ming and early Qing China. At least two baptismal works were published in China around 1690 – Shengxi guiyi 聖洗規儀 (Rules and Procedure of the Sacred Liturgy of Baptism, 1689) by Jacques Motel (Mu Diwo 穆迪我, 1619–1692) and Jinjiao lingxi jielu 進教領洗 捷錄 (A Brief Summary on Baptism to Enter the Religion, ca. 1690s) by Francisco Peris (Bian Fangshi 卞芳世, 1635–1701). 96 The different missionary approaches of the Jesuits and the Franciscans are vividly exemplified by these two texts. Motel provides scholastic explanations and arguments on some practical concerns and doubts, making a combined use of the sayings of ancient saints and exemplary stories in Church history to emphasize the importance of baptism and its miraculous effects. He also gives lengthy notes on the meanings of the key elements in the baptismal procedure, such as making the sign of the Cross, using the Holy Salt and the Holy Oil, and holding the candle. In regard to the cleansing water and the Trinitarian formula, Motel refers to these two elements as the matter and the form of baptism, a distinction derived from Aristotelian philosophy. His explanations suggest an intellectual approach which can be traced back to the strong scholastic tradition in early Jesuit education. In contrast, Peris does not use intellectual arguments or philosophical terms. His prescriptions rather adopt a pastoral approach and faithfully follow the norms dictated by the Catholic Church. Moreover, Motel omits a few standard baptismal steps, such as exsufflation and ephpheta, in the Chinese prescriptions. On the contrary, these steps are listed and explained in Peris’s work.97 It is difficult to know whether the Jesuits actually omitted these steps in ministry, but their absence in the prescriptive texts could be an intentional choice to avoid suspicion on the Chinese side. As we can see in the anti-Christian essays in Shengchao poxie ji, hostile Chinese scholars and officials often criticize the “evil” activities found in the barbarian Christian religion, such as worshipping heaven in private, using spells and water, burning incense, meeting at night, and mingling males and females. To them, these activities not only offended the moral norms of family relations and gender distinction, but also violated the imperial law. Likely due to this sensitive concern, Motel removed these steps which are essentially exorcist activities and also involve close physical contact.

96 97

Shengxi guiyi, in CCT BnF, vol. 18, pp. 1-92; Jinjiao lingxi jielu, in CCT BnF, vol. 18, pp. 93-163. Both exsufflation and ephpheta are part of the baptismal liturgy. The former refers to the rite in which the priest blows on a neophyte’s face, with the purpose to exorcise the devil and purify the mind. The latter refers to the rite in which the priest touches with his thumb the ears and nostrils of a neophyte while saying “Ephpheta,” a symbolic act imitating Jesus’ miraculous curing of the deaf and the dumb. Exsufflation and ephpheta are translated as Xuqi pimo 噓氣闢魔 and Dian ersi 點二司 in Peris’s work. See Jinjiao lingxi jielu, pp. 129-130.

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Chinese people in the 17th century must have been impressed by the special function of Christian baptism, because it carried some distinctive features that they never experienced in native Chinese religions. Due to the tendency of religious syncretism of this period, a Confucian scholar or a Daoist master could also be a Buddhist layman at the same time. The popular trend fostered the emergence of a large group of jushi 居士 (scholar layman, literally a scholar in the household), including the Confucian scholars Li Zhi 李贄 (1527–1602) and Qian Qianyi 錢謙益 (1582–1664) and the Daoist master Yuan Liaofan 袁了凡 (1533– 1606). Though they contributed in many ways to the development of Ming Buddhism, they did not shave their heads and follow a routine procedure to enter a Buddhist monastery. However, baptism was a mandatory Christian liturgy for every convert. Yang Tingyun was a devout lay Buddhist before his conversion to Christianity. He once had a concubine in the household which did not affect his engagement in Buddhist devotion. However, only after he was moved by the resolute attitude of the Jesuits and sent his concubine away did Yang obtain baptism. 98 His conversion resulted in several apologetic works, such as Tian–Shi mingbian and Daiyi pian, in which he denounced a set of Buddhist teachings as false. Moreover, as the very first step for a Chinese to enter the Christian faith, baptism had a significant social implication quite different from the European situation. After the 5th century, baptisms of adults in Europe were outnumbered by infant baptisms, while the Catholic Church in general adopted a shortened version of the same liturgical procedure for the latter group.99 In the 17th century, while adult conversions had become rare in Europe, the situation in China was just the opposite. Most cases were first-generation adult conversions. To become a Christian was the result of a conscious decision, and it often involved a difficult break with the past, as we can see in the case of Yang Tingyun. In this context, preparatory knowledge of essential Catholic doctrines was definitely needed for the baptismal liturgy. Little wonder Fan Zhong would refer to three general requirements for baptism in Tianzhu shengjiao xiaoyin – abandon heretical beliefs and behaviors, read the essential catechisms, and repent for past sins – which a neophyte needed to fulfill before baptism.100 In late Ming Fujian, baptism was certainly among the essential liturgies introduced by the Jesuits. To justify the authenticity and authority of this liturgy, they would trace its origin back to the Lord of Heaven. In Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe, for example, Aleni recounts Jesus’ baptism by St. John the Baptist in the Jordan River. At the end, he adds in a brief explanatory note: Why did our Lord want to receive baptism with his purest body? It is exactly because he wanted to teach us how to cleanse our mind. If he wanted to establish the rules for one to enter the religion, he had to receive baptism to show 98

Yang Qiyuan, pp. 221-222.

99

Metzger 1997, pp. 97-98.

100

TZSJXY, pp. 17-19.

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that it can cleanse the sins in one’s life. Therefore, he himself would be the first to receive the liturgy. However, our Lord humbled himself so much that he would be baptized by a man. This is why the Holy Father further presented Jesus as the true Lord, who should be respected by all people.101

Here Aleni especially focuses on why Jesus would receive baptism and serve as an example for all people. It is therefore not a ritual invented by man, but a sacred institution established by the incarnated Lord of Heaven himself. Though Aleni does not further explain the embedded concept of rebirth, he clearly points out cleansing as the essential function of baptism. In Tianzhu qinli lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li, Zhang Geng also mentions that baptism serves to cleanse one from past sins before entering the Christian religion. Countering doubts about the necessity of this ritual in case of real repentance, Zhang argues: “Why does the imperial court issue credentials and edicts when offering an official post? Why does it bother to make announcements in granting an amnesty?” 102 Clearly, Zhang intended to compare the universal authority of the Lord of Heaven to the imperial authority of the Chinese ruler, a rhetorical device frequently used by Aleni in his discussions with the converts and non-Christian visitors. As a record of real dialogues, Kouduo richao also offers us valuable information about the liturgy of baptism. When Aleni and the Jianyang scholar Lai Shizhang discuss the critical differences between Christianity and Buddhism, the potency of baptismal water in comparison with the Buddhist ritual is also disputed by Lai. To him, if one falls into sin, it can hardly be washed away. He doubts that a drop of the Holy Water may bring about the thorough cleansing Aleni claimed. Even if that were to be the case, this baptism would be no different from the Buddhist practice of sprinkling water with willow branches. This view is strongly rebuked by Aleni. He argues that: If one has committed an offence against the ruler, only the ruler has the power to forgive it; if one has committed an offence against the Lord of Heaven only he has the power to forgive it. … Moreover, the rule that Holy Water is used to wash away sins has been established by the Lord of Heaven himself after he has descended into the world; therefore [the substance] administered by the [Sacer]dote may outwardly resemble water, but it actually possesses the supernatural power to forgive sins. As for the Buddha: he just was a human being, and in addition he was guilty of falsely pretending to be on a par with the Lord of Heaven. He is like a criminal who forgives other convicts while he himself has been condemned to death. How would that be permissible? You make the comparison between [our baptism and Buddhist dispersion], but the two definitely do not belong to the same category.103

Aleni develops three key points in this well-knit argument: First, he uses the familiar analogy between a secular ruler and the Lord of Heaven to demonstrate 101

TZJSYXJL, pp. 70-71.

102

Tianzhu qinli lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li, pp. 59-60.

103

KDRC, pp. 331-332; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 440.

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the latter’s supernatural power to forgive sins. Second, the priest’s special duty in administering the baptismal liturgy on behalf of the Lord is emphasized. Third, as a human being, Buddha cannot be equal to the Lord. The so-called forgiveness granted by him is no better than that of a usurper or a criminal. For obvious doctrinal reasons, Aleni would firmly deny Lai’s point that the Christian sacrament might have anything to do with a similar Buddhist practice. In this sense, all other popular Chinese types of consecrated, exorcist, or healing water should be avoided as well. Through this dialogic exchange, we can see that Aleni was attempting to strike a balance between adaptation to the Chinese imperial hierarchy and refutation of native religious practices: the ritualistic cleansing in both Christian and Chinese traditions may look alike on the surface, but only the Lord of Heaven possesses such ultimate power as to make the ritual truly effective. In addition to apologetic arguments on the necessity and effectiveness of baptism, Aleni and the other Jesuits had to face practical difficulties in performing the sacrament. For one thing, the lack of missionary priests often made the administration of this liturgy unavailable to people in urgent needs. In Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe, Vagnone mentions expediencies in administrating the baptismal ritual: A male Christian may take the place of a priest if the latter is not available, and a female Christian may take the place of the priest or the male if both are not available.104 In Tianzhu shengjiao xiaoyin, Fan Zhong provides a more detailed explanation: If a missionary master is in the church, only he has the authority to administer the sacrament of baptism. One is not allowed to request another person to perform it. Only when there is no way out [i.e., a priest is absent], especially in time of emergency, it is alright to find another person. Whoever knows the rituals and regulations of the doctrine and can recite the baptismal prayer, whether old or young, male or female, and believer or pagan, he or she can do it. In such an urgent situation, a man should perform the ritual if he is familiar with it, but a woman does not perform [in his place] even though she has a good knowledge of the ritual. If among a group of men there is a believer, he should perform the ritual. A pagan does not perform [in the place of that believer] even if he has a good knowledge of the ritual.105

In Fan’s explanation, we can detect his special concern about who can administer baptism in the absence of a priest. The Catholic Church allows this type of extraordinary baptism, meaning that the ritual may be conducted anywhere by anyone in time of emergency, as a complement to the ordinary baptism administered by a priest.106 Nonetheless, a recent study shows that there were only 38 missionaries in China in the year of 1637, while the number slowly rose up to 67 in 1690, and 112 in 1700.107 Considering the small numbers of missionaries, one should 104

TZJYJL, p. 226.

105

TZSJXY, pp. 19-20.

106

“Baptism,” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm (accessed March 12, 2018).

107

HCC 1, pp. 300-302, 307.

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not be surprised by Fan’s focus on extraordinary baptisms due to the lack of available priests. Another practical difficulty was caused by the custom of concubinage in late Ming China, especially among upper-class gentry and officials.108 The Catholic Church upheld monogamy and indissolubility as essential features of marriage since the early medieval period, and it restated the firm stance against polygamy at the 24th session of the Council of Trent in 1563.109 Since the Chinese practice of concubinage directly violated established Catholic norms, Ricci was of the opinion that Chinese men showed no constraints in sexuality by taking multiple wives and concubines.110 Other early Jesuits would emphasize the European practice of monogamy in their Chinese writings. Pantoja’s Qike, for example, contains a section on marriage under the general title of overcoming the capital sin of lust. In this section, Pantoja is questioned by someone, obviously a Chinese, on the reason for the Christian prohibition of concubinage. He tells the story of Adam and Eve to justify the norm of monogamy established by the Lord of Heaven. Regarding some cases of polygamy in Western history, Pantoja gives a special explanation: There were a few saints who married two wives in ancient times in our Western Country. Since the people at that time were few, the Lord would make their families prosperous with numerous off-spring in order to spread the Sacred Teaching in the world. He knew that they had pure virtues and strong faith, and that they would not indulge in sexuality with multiple wives, thus he lifted the rule of monogamy and allowed them to marry a second wife. The cases of polygamy among the ancient saints were not for the rule, but for expediency.111

The Jesuits’ insistence on Catholic monogamy against Chinese concubinage turned out to be a great obstacle for Chinese scholars and officials, who were willing to convert but did not dismiss their concubines for various reasons.112 In a letter to Claudio Acquaviva Ricci reports that he had to reject the sincere request for baptism made by a few notables because they did not want to give up their concubines. Such a “concubine dilemma” was likewise experienced by the “Three Pillars of the Sacred Teaching,” namely Xu Guangqi, Li Zhizao, and Yang Tingyun. Xu visited the Jesuits in Nanjing in 1603 and decided to convert after learning the Christian doctrines from João da Rocha. He had no problem to accept the Ten Commandments of the Lord of Heaven, except for the prohibition of concubinage. Since he only had one son, who had not yet produced a male heir 108

Lin Zhongze 2001, pp. 72-73.

109

Tanner 1990, pp. 753-759.

110

Gallagher does not translate this passage in his China in the Sixteenth Century. Here I refer to the original text in Opere storiche del P. Matteo Ricci S.J., vol. 1, p. 75.

111

Qike (TXCH ), pp. 1051-1052.

112

For a summary on the difficulties in the Jesuits’ enforcement of the “no concubinage” rule among Chinese literati converts, see Huang Yi-long 2006, pp. 136-143; Tian Haihua 2007, pp. 172-177.

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at that time, Xu thought about taking a concubine to possibly obtain more offspring for the Xu family. However, this idea was firmly opposed by da Rocha. He said, “Having a son or not totally depends on the will of the Lord, so how dare you violate this commandment!” After much consideration, Xu finally abandoned his plan and happily received baptism. As recorded by Aleni, due to his sincere faith in the Lord, Xu got a grandson in the next year and soon had more in the family.113 Li Zhizao and Yang Tingyun had to face the same problem for their baptism. Likely because of his concubine, Li did not get baptized for many years.114 As to Yang, he could only receive baptism after he dismissed his concubine. Encouraged by these early successes, the Jesuits would further promote their uncompromising stance on Chinese concubinage. Aleni and his confreres were no exception in the Fujian mission. In Lixiu yijian, Li Jiugong records an interesting episode in this respect. Aleni refused to baptize Chen Zheng 陳鉦, a man in Fuqing, because he kept a concubine at home. Several times Chen kneeled down and cried in repenting his severe crimes, but Aleni was not moved by his plea. A month later, Chen married his concubine to another man and even offered dowry and clothes for her re-marriage. After taking this determined action, Chen could finally get the approval to be baptized, together with his family.115 5.3.2. Confession

After the Chinese neophyte received baptism, he was required to follow a series of other liturgies to live a new Christian life. One of the most important liturgies in Aleni’s Fujian mission was confession (gaojie 告解). The liturgy of baptism represented a thorough repentance of all sins one committed in the past, and it offered a general absolution to cleanse the stain of original sin. The ritual, however, was a one-time act that could not be repeated in dealing with faults and misgivings committed after baptism. This is why the literati converts in Fujian often felt puzzled while carrying out a Jesuit pattern of spiritual and moral training. Li Jiubiao, though having been baptized for several years, brought forth this doubt to Aleni: “When a tree has been uprooted, its trunk can no more produce branches. How then is it possible that after the elimination of original sin the cardinal sins still make their appearance one after another?” In his answer, Aleni replaced Li’s metaphor with the metaphor of a disease: Even though the root of illness of a man might have been pulled out, his health could not be recovered at once without any after-effect. A similar situation may happen in Christian life as well. “Now the original sin may have been eliminated, but ever since man has become contaminated his nature is bound to lean towards sin: that is the residue of original sin.”116 113

Daxi Xitai Li xiansheng xingji, in CCT ARSI, vol. 12, p. 214.

114

Fang Hao 1988, vol. 1, pp. 116-117.

115

Lixiu yijian (CCT BnF ), pp. 116-117.

116

KDRC, pp. 290-291; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 410.

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By using the term yuji 餘跡 (residue), Aleni clearly made his point that sins, whether mortal or venial, may still appear after baptism. While a convert needed to try his best to escape from sins by subduing and controlling the self from time to time, his release from the effects of sins committed after baptism should rely upon the sacrament of confession, which involved a series of prescribed activities in the presence of a priest. Aleni’s arguments reinforced some earlier introductory accounts by the other Jesuits. For example, when Vagnone interpreted the translated term bainidengjiya 白尼登濟亞 ( poenitentia, i.e., confession), he first stressed that it was the method “to cure spiritual diseases of man,” and then explained the three major steps a penitent had to take during the sacrament: sincere remorse of sins committed, thorough confession to the zhangjiaozhe 掌教者 (the one in charge of the church, i.e., a sacerdote or priest), listening to the instructions of the zhangjiaozhe and making efforts to redeem sins. 117 However, Vagnone did not provide further information on how to perform this liturgy. Apparently, due to the practical needs in the newly established Fujian communities, Aleni published Dizui zhenggui and Huizui yaozhi to serve as manuals for the local converts to gain more knowledge on the liturgy and more easily take part in the procedure. A shorter version of the former work, titled Dizui zhenggui lüe, was printed in the 1630s, which seemed to enjoy a wider circulation among the converts and had a visible impact on later prescriptive texts of confession.118 The authority of a Catholic priest in administrating confession remained at the center of this sacrament, which was prescribed to every Chinese convert either routinely or periodically. First of all, though some rituals in native Chinese religions, for example, Buddhist chanhui 懺悔 (penitential ceremony) looked similar to Christian confession, none could be compared with the latter in terms of the role of a Catholic priest. In a Buddhist chanhui ceremony, the priest normally served as a mediator between supernatural beings and human beings, through acts such as transferring karma and witnessing prayers or vows, but he did not have the power to forgive sins himself. However, in Christian confession the Catholic priest was authorized by the Lord of Heaven to give absolution and remit sins.119 No wonder Aleni in Dizui zhenggui would emphasize the unique power of a Catholic priest in this sacrament. He writes: The Lord of Heaven entrusted the pope with the authority to remit sins, while the pope in turn entrusted a priest with the same authority. It is not because the priest has the power, but because it is the Lord’s mandate. In case one confesses to another person, even if the person has great virtues of a saint he still cannot forgive sins, because he does not have such authority. One may tell one’s sins and misgivings to a virtuous person and ask for advice. It may still

117

TZJYJL, pp. 232-235.

118

Menegon 2006, pp. 20-22.

119

Zürcher 2006, pp. 106-121.

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be acceptable because the purpose is not to ask for forgiveness. Only that the act cannot be regarded as the ritual of confession.120

To Aleni, the exclusive power of a Catholic priest to confer absolution derives from the Lord of Heaven. The deities of all other religions may be able to exhort people with good words, but only the Lord can really forgive sins, anda nonbeliever cannot receive forgiveness from the Lord. The argument reveals Aleni’s attempt to separate the spiritual from the secular. In this sense, the liturgy not only functions as a medium for spiritual communication, but it also becomes the tool for building power relationship between the Christian God and the deities of other religions.121 Secondly, similar to the baptismal liturgy, confession should be conducted in the presence of a priest. The ritual procedure involved a direct, personal encounter between the priest and a convert. In Dizui zhenggui, Aleni responds to two particular concerns related to this aspect. One is whether one may write a letter of confession to a priest who is in a remote place, and the other is whether a translator may be allowed to help when someone in time of emergency needs to confess but does not speak the same language as the priest does. To the former concern, Aleni’s answer is negative. He mentions possible ineffective operations of the liturgy due to some uncertain conditions (e.g., the confessor dies, or commits new sins after sending out a letter), so the priest and the confessor must have face-to-face contact. Confession in a written form, Aleni concludes, has been forbidden by the pope and thus should not be allowed. To the latter concern, Aleni shows some compromise and accepts the use of a translator as an expedient method to carry out the liturgy. Due to the fact that it is supposed to be a private communication, the convert in the presence of the third person is not required to confess sins that are critical to his or someone’s reputation. However, the convert should make up his mind to find some way to thoroughly report all sins in order to recover from illness.122 In addition to the focus on the authority of a priest, Dizui zhenggui also provides an instruction on how a convert should participate in such an important sacrament. Aleni writes: A devotee who wants to confess his sins should examine himself several days before confession, deeply repenting all sins and faults like those explained in the previous volume. When it is the time for confession, the penitent should meditate as if he is right before the throne of the Lord of Heaven listening to His judgment. He should decline all social contacts and secular affairs, focus on the purgation of mind and thought, and follow the regulations. He must not do it rashly as if to complete a customary practice. Even the recitation of the Rosary is not the duty at this time. He only keeps a single mind and meditates all the sins that should be repented without omission. He should notice the 120

DZZG, pp. 493-494.

121

For a study on the practice theory, which takes ritual as a praxis that constructs power relationships, see Bell 1997, pp. 76-83.

122

DZZG, pp. 496-498.

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priest at the front and ask for confession. When it is time, he should come before the altar of the Lord, remove his hat, kneel beside the seat of the priest, bow and make the sign of the Cross, sincerely recite the “scripture of confession” (Jiezui jing 解罪經, i.e., the Confiteor), … And then he clearly confesses to the Father [his sins] like he would say to the Lord of Heaven, without any hiding or exaggeration. At the beginning he should say, “Since I have been converted, or since my last confession, how many months and days have passed; whether I have completely fulfilled the works according to what have been requested in the last confession.” Moreover, he should first state any sins not confessed in the last confession. … After stating all that he remembers, if he is afraid that there might still be something left out, he can appeal to the Father to interrogate him. After these words, he should speak to himself, “I have so many sins. Now before the Lord I repent with my whole heart that I have offended my Lord. I’d rather lose ten thousand things under the heaven, but I don’t want to make such sins and lose the grace of my Lord. Since now I will keep my mind and will firm and will never commit the sins again. I would follow the commandments of the Lord all my life. I would venture to ask the priest to pardon my sins on behalf of the Lord and pray to the Lord for me, so that my spiritual strength increases and I can fulfill my duty as a filial son of the Lord, etc.” Then he recites the scripture [of the Rosary], worshiping the graceful patron, the Holy Mother Mary, till the last chapter. After this, he should respectfully listen to the instructions of the priest and be convinced without forgetting. Then, he puts on his hat again and retreat with passion and gratitude. However, he should not easily relax his mind and talk with people on secular affairs, so much so that the pure and sincere mind is exhausted in the end.123

This prescriptive instruction presents a three-stage process that the penitent needs to go through. The preparation stage consists of regular self-examination of sins committed. The emphasis on keeping a single mind in meditation can be connected with the Christian contemplative life that Aleni would promote among his converts. The second stage centers on the ritual taking place in the church. The penitent follows a standard procedure in line with the established Catholic model in Europe, and a set of formulaic activities (e.g., taking off the hat, kneeling down, and reciting the Confiteor) should be performed before the altar where the priest is seated. After confessing all the sins, the penitent should admonish himself and set his mind on spiritual or moral reform, followed by a petition for absolution to the priest on behalf of the Lord. The priest makes some comments on the nature and gravity of the sins that the penitent has confessed, and then concludes the rite with conferral of absolution.124

123

DZZG, pp. 520-523. The scripture of confession mentioned in this passage seems to refer to the prayer called huizui jing, or scripture of penitence, given in the same work (pp. 441442).

124

In Dizui zhenggui lüe, the first and the third stages are omitted, but the main stages remain the same, except for three inserted rules for a confession: modesty, thoroughness, and deep

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Through detailed prescriptions in Dizui zhenggui, Aleni consciously adapts the liturgy of confession to the Chinese context. For example, under the category of the First Commandment, the list of sins for self-examination (xingcha tiaomu 省 察條目) features many Chinese religious and superstitious practices (e.g., reciting Buddhist sutras, Buddhist abstinence, the Daoist ritual of jiao 醮, burning of incense, geomancy, fortune-telling, and divination) as sinful offences to the Lord of Heaven. Under the category of the Sixth Commandment, Aleni mentions the Catholic doctrine of monogamy and condemns Chinese concubinage as the mortal sin of adultery. As to the Fourth Commandment of honouring one’s parents, Aleni gives a list of 28 unfilial acts which largely accord with Confucian moral norms on family and social relations. His explanation clearly indicates a mixture of Christian and Confucian values: According to the doctrine of the Sacred Teaching, parents follow right after the Lord of Heaven in terms of importance. The ones who give birth to me are parents. The ones who govern me are rulers, officials, and elders in my family. The ones who instruct me are teachers. All belong to the category of “parents.” As far as their requests are made with righteousness and reason, I should try my best to fulfill them without any excuses. This is a major aspect in worshipping the Lord.125

With this composite classification of sins, Aleni unambiguously reaffirms his missionary strategy in adapting to the most orthodox Confucian teachings. As one can see from Kouduo richao, the sacrament of confession also constitutes a much discussed topic among Jesuits and Chinese converts in Fujian. As recorded for June 12, 1632, Aleni was accompanied by Zhang Geng and Yan Weisheng to visit Dehua. On the road they take a rest, while Zhang notices that the master looks very tired. He asks whether it is because he has worn himself out in listening to confessions yesterday. Aleni’s answer reflects his inner emotions: Saving people is something I am doing gladly, but the problem is that they are not willing to save themselves. Now people are not saints or sages; how can they be perfectly good in whatever they do? The point is that when they do something wrong they must know it, and when they know it they must make confession in order to receive absolution. Nowadays there are many who think that they have not committed great faults, and even if [they realize that] they have committed them and ask for absolution, they do not feel true and intense remorse – they only follow the rules of an empty ritual. That means that they are deeply ungrateful for the Lord’s grace; how can they expect Him to forgive them? When that happens, I, representing the Lord’s authority, do not dare to make any compromise by which I would provoke his anger. Therefore I do my utmost to arouse those people and to wake them up; I want to enlighten their inner self, so that they constantly may be trembling with fear when grief. See DZZGL, pp. 1247-1252. For a summary on the sequence of the liturgy, see Menegon 2006, pp. 20-22. 125

DZZG, p. 387.

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seeking absolution. Moreover there may be some words I do not understand, or the [penitent’s] account may be incoherent. If I do not scrutinize their words with utmost attention, it is very difficult to assess the circumstances of the sin committed. I am in no way different from a physician feeling the pulse to cure the patient, pressing his hand upon the patient’s hand, hoping to identify the disease and to make him recover, and realizing that the slightest lack of attention may cause serious harm. People do not know my intention, so how can they understand that I am wearing out my spirit?126

Here he expresses explicit disappointment at those converts who lack sincere penitence to “save themselves” and confess only on a superficial level. Yet, this difficult situation forces him to act as a representative of the Lord of Heaven, and help those penitents examine and confess their sins in a proper manner. The physician–patient metaphor he adopts is highly significant here. The duty of a physician was to look for symptoms as a clue for a correct prescription to cure a physical disease. Similarly, what a priest should do is to carefully examine the sins confessed so that the spiritual disease can be cured with proper guidance. Thus, Aleni becomes a spiritual “physician” who saves the lost souls on behalf of the Lord of Heaven, an image which mirrors the aforementioned metaphor of “spiritual medicines” to cure the mind, namely, religious works published by the missionaries.127 With such a subtle answer, Aleni again justifies his authority as a priest invested in the apostolic tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. On the other hand, Aleni’s answer also reflects the problem of Chinese converts treating the liturgy of confession as a rote practice. Many of them appeared to “follow the rules of an empty ritual” lacking sincerity. Therefore, Aleni and his confreres had to remind them that sins must be confessed thoroughly and with true intense remorse. Aleni compared self-examination of the sins to guarding a city against wrongdoers. He also warned the convert that the Lord of Heaven knew every part of one’s life. If one intentionally avoided confessing some sins, the punishment from the Lord would be severe. On the contrary, if one sincerely reproached himself and made a thorough confession, the Lord would forgive him with pity and allow him to reform himself.128 Kouduo richao records another discussion between de Mattos, Li Jiubiao and Lin Yunqing on what was true penitence. De Mattos first points out that the sincerity in a confession completely relies on tonghui 痛 悔 (bitter repentance), which is only the case with one tenth of the converts. In contrast, most of those who follow the Catholic teachings today only have donghui 動悔 (moved repentance). Lin Yunqing doubts such a distinction. De Mattos explains: When at the time of confession a person who “is moved by repentance” reviews his own sins, his mind will only experience a slight movement. If he 126

KDRC, pp. 200-201; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 341.

127

See Chapter Four (Sec. 4.3.2.) for an analysis of the “spiritual medicines” metaphor.

128

KDRC, pp. 157-158; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 312. The instruction on faithful confession sounds similar to a passage in Dizui zhenggui. See DZZG, p. 501.

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feels “bitter repentance,” he will lament and be hard pressed; he will discipline himself and not allow himself a moment’s rest. If he in that [state of mind] looks up and prays to the Lord for help, he may well expect to gain his approval.129

In fact, the terms tonghui and donghui correspond to gongdilizang 恭第利藏 (i.e., contritio) and yadilizang 亞第利藏 (i.e., attritio), transliterated by Aleni in Dizui zhenggui based on Catholic theology.130 Interestingly, de Mattos explains tonghui in an etymological way. He first dissects each of the two characters tong 痛 and hui 悔 into separate components and then interprets their respective meanings: tong consists of 疒 and 甬, so the two parts combined suggest one’s deeper grief when suffering from a spiritual disease than that from a physical disease; hui consists of 忄 and 每, so the two parts combined suggest a person’s thorough and continuous remorse in the inner heart for every sinful deed committed. By intentionally employing Chinese etymology in his instruction, de Mattos clarifies what may be regarded as true repentance in terms of confession. Though donghui also contains the word “repentance,” it is not real repentance, due to lack of faithfulness and wholeheartedness. De Mattos’ argument reveals the Jesuits’ persistence on some essential standards for a good confession, which have been included in the list of sixteen conditions translated by Aleni in Dizui zhenggui.131 The above discussions certainly reflect the problem of routinization for the ministry of confession in Fujian Catholic communities. We further understand how these dialogic exchanges between the Jesuits and Chinese converts had played an important role in facilitating the transformation from liturgical prescriptions into spiritual experiences. In addition to routinization, the Jesuits in late Ming China also faced many other practical difficulties. For example, in Tianzhu qinli lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li, Zhang Geng is obliged to answer a few challenging questions apparently raised by Chinese converts, such as the necessity of confession for a priest in place of the Lord of Heaven and the humiliating gestures of taking off the hat and kneeling down by the priest, who is called “a brother” among others in the church on other occasions.132 How to administer confession for Chinese women posed another serious challenge. The Jesuits had to abide by the rules of gender segregation in China and worked out some expedient methods to make the sacrament possible, for example, by confession at home, physical separation by a 129

KDRC, pp. 300-302; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 417.

130

DZZG, pp. 421-428; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 418.

131

The sixteen conditions necessary for confessions, which are attributed to Thomas Aquinas, include simple, humble, pure, faithful, frequent, undisguised, discreet, voluntary, shamefaced, entire, secret, tearful, not delayed, courageously accusing, and ready to obey. For Aquinas’ apologetic discussions, see http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5009.htm (accessed March 12, 2018). For Aleni’s translations and explanatory notes, see DZZG, pp. 499-517.

132

Tianzhu qinli lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li, pp. 60-63.

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screen, and a third person as on-site witness. 133 Moreover, due to the lack of available missionary priests, there also arose some cases of self-led confessions and written confessions. 134 The Jesuits were therefore faced with challenges in doctrinal, cultural, and ministry aspects, for which they had to strike a balance between formality and practicality according to the circumstances. 5.3.3. Holy Mass (Eucharist)

In addition to baptism and confession, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the celebration of the Holy Mass were also introduced by the early Jesuits as the most exalted and elaborate among all liturgies. In the catechetical work Shengjing yuelu printed around 1610, the Eucharist is called gongmengyang 共蒙仰 (i.e., communio), the third among the Seven Sacraments. “The transliteration means to partake. When believers of the Sacred Teaching reach the adult age, they should get absolutions from time to time to calm their mind and will. By partaking of the bread and wine, they receive the Host to get a share of the Lord’s grace.”135 In Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe, Vagnone retains the same term and further elaborates on the establishment of the Eucharist by the Lord, the effects of transubstantiation, and the three major goals in performing this sacrament.136 In Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng, da Rocha adopts a similar term, gongmengyang 恭蒙仰, and pays particular attention to the miraculous changes of the bread and wine being consecrated. 137 These texts allowed Chinese converts to become familiar with the unique function of the Eucharist, namely, to have a direct communion with the incarnated Lord of Heaven by partaking of the consecrated bread and wine. Moreover, the liturgy of the mass, called misa 彌撒 or zhanli 瞻禮, turned out to be an effective community-building device. It was publicly performed in the congregation. By way of routinized acts, symbolic gestures, and transliterated prayers and scriptures, Chinese converts would be able to consolidate the same faith and communal bonds in the construction of a collective Christian identity. The Jesuits’ introduction of the liturgy of the mass culminated in the publication of Misa jiyi by Aleni in 1629, four years after he opened the Fujian mission. 138 In this monumental work, Aleni presents a comprehensive account on different aspects of the liturgy of the mass, such as its origin from the incarnated Lord of Heaven, its exalted role among all liturgies, the settings of the temple and the altar, the clergy who administer the liturgy, ceremonial clothing, and more importantly, the symbolic meaning of each movement or gesture during the whole process and the proper way for the faithful to participate in the celebration. 133

Menegon 2006, pp. 38-40.

134

Ibid., pp. 31, 65.

135

Shengjing yuelu, pp. 112-113.

136

TZJYJL, pp. 228-232.

137

TZSJQM, pp. 487-488.

138

Misa jiyi is listed together with Dizui zhenggui among Aleni’s representative works. See Yesuhui Xilai zhuwei xiansheng xingshi, p. 311; XHAXSXL, p. 261.

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In essence, the work can be regarded as a Chinese version of expositio Missae, which emerged in medieval Europe to offer exegetical or allegorical explanations on the Latin-dominated liturgy.139 However, a close reading of the work shows that Aleni consciously adapts this outmoded European genre to the Chinese context. In the beginning chapter, he gives a general definition of the liturgy of the mass: The grand ritual in worshipping the true Lord between heaven and earth is called misa in the Western language. Its meaning, if translated, is to make offerings. The ritual is to be administered by the sacerdotes (a title of ranking), who make offerings to the Lord on behalf of the faithful. Those who study the Way should purify thought and mind, follow the order (of the Lord) with devotion, and in the same heart and spirit offer themselves to the Lord. The Lord therefore bestows abundant grace to man. When the Lord above and man below interconnect with each other, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished by sincerity (cheng wubu ge 誠無不格).140

Interestingly, the last sentence on sincerity in worship to the Lord of Heaven corresponds to Zhu Xi’s annotation to a passage in the Lunyu, in which Confucius expresses his view on the ritual of di 禘 (ancestral sacrifice).141 It is difficult to tell whether Aleni read Zhu’s annotation, but we can see his implicit intention to define the liturgy of the mass according to orthodox Confucian sacrificial rituals. The tendency of adapting to the Chinese context is also evident in Aleni’s preface to Misa jiyi, in which he answers several questions raised by a certain guest. One of the questions is whether formalized acts (e.g., kneeling down) are necessary if one worships the Lord sincerely from the heart. In his reply, Aleni compares the Christian faith with two key Confucian concepts: filial piety and loyalty. Filial emotion should be embodied in one’s service to parents, so should loyal thought be realized in one’s service to the ruler. Thus one’s worship of the Lord of Heaven, Aleni argues, should be actualized by means of visible liturgical performances.142 To make the liturgy of the mass understandable in the new Chinese context, Aleni also interweaves further information on Catholic institutions and Christian doctrines in Misa jiyi. For example, he gives a detailed introduction to the sevenrank sacerdotal system within the Catholic Church, which also served to justify the authority of the missionaries to administer the liturgy of the mass in China. Moreover, his explanations on the thirty-three sections of the mass represent the entire history of salvation, with particular emphasis on the birth, life, passion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, the incarnated Lord of Heaven. Through such a catechetical expositio, Aleni could take advantage of the mass 139

Dudink 2007, pp. 210-214.

140

MSJY, p. 485.

141

The same phrase can be found in Sishu zhangju jizhu, p. 64.

142

MSJY, pp. 476-478.

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celebration to teach his converts some fundamentals of the Christian faith. No wonder Li Jiubiao would make a special remark in his statement of editorial principles for Kouduo richao, claiming that “on the days when the great zhanli is celebrated the masters always expound the Way in the church.”143 As to the liturgy itself, Aleni presents a twofold exposition in Misa jiyi. In the first part, he provides a prescriptive guideline for converts on how to act during the mass. When they enter the church, they dip the fingers into the Holy Water and recite prayers. When the rite is about to start, they should bow, kneel, and make the sign of Cross. After the priest comes down from the altar, the acolyte recites the Confiteor and all should silently recite it along with him and beat their chests three times. When the priest moves around the altar, recites the scripture, and kneels down, the converts have to stand up, bow, and kneel accordingly. When the priest raises the Host and the Holy Chalice, they should kneel down and beat the chest, while reciting the prayers. When the priest receives the Host (ling Shengti 領聖體, i.e., Communion or Eucharist) at the altar, they should receive it in a spiritual way. When the priest washes his hands, they should stand up. When the priest gives blessing to the congregation, they should kneel or make a bow while hearing it. When the priest concludes the ceremony with the final prayer, they should follow him in making a bow, and then all retire.144 In the second part of Misa jiyi, Aleni lists a sequence of thirty-three activities that a priest follows in the liturgy of the mass, and for each activity he gives detailed explanations on its allegorical meanings. These activities are grouped into three parts: the preparatory service (jiangji 將祭), the main service (zhengji 正祭), and the concluding service (cheji 徹祭). In the preparatory service, the priest goes up to the altar and then descends, making the sign of Cross and reciting Jiezui jing 解罪經, or the Confiteor. Then he ascends the left side of the altar, recites a passage from the Old Testament, and recites the transliterated Latin words e’leliya 厄樂利亞 (gloria in excelsis Deo, i.e., Glory to God in the highest) and duominusi abisigong 鐸彌奴斯阿比斯公 (Dominus vobiscum, i.e., the Lord be with you). Next, he recites a prayer for that feast day, burns incense, and reads a passage from the scripture of Wanrilüe 萬日略 (Evangelium, i.e., the gospels). After reciting Xinjing, (the Creed) and e’leliya, the priest pours wine in the Holy Chalice and presents it together with the holy body as the sacrifice wosidiya 窩斯帝亞 (hostia, i.e., the Host). Then he washes his hands, recites the Latin word sandusi 三都斯 (i.e., sanctus), prays to the Lord for protection of all people, and makes the sign of the cross above the Holy Chalice. The main service consists of only nine sections, but it is certainly the climax of the whole ceremony. The priest raises the Host and the Holy Chalice, makes the sign of the cross on the Host five times, joins his hands in meditation, beats his chest while reciting nuobisi guoguo 諾比斯郭國 (nobis quoque, i.e., the initial phrase of a long prayer on the Lord’s grace extending to all sinners), and 143

KDRC, p. 26; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 188.

144

Dudink 2007, pp. 232-235.

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recites the Lord’s Prayer in a loud voice. Then, he breaks the Host into three small pieces and recites the Latin phrase basi duomini 罷斯鐸彌尼 (Pax Domini [sit semper vobiscum], i.e., the peace of the Lord be always with you). After that, the priest beats his chest in repentance and receives the Host. In the concluding service, the priest recites prayers and the Latin expression duominusi abisigong to the congregation. Upon saying the words yide misa 依得 彌撒 (Ite, missa est), the congregation is not yet dismissed, because the priest still needs to give blessings to the audience by making the sign of the Cross and reads a passage from the Holy Scripture. In the end, he takes the Holy Chalice with him and retreats.145 The whole liturgy is completed. Apparently the procedure depicts “a kind of visualized liturgical drama.”146 A variety of symbolic objects, such as the scriptures, the chalice, the Host (i.e., consecrated bread), and the incense, can be seen in this grand ceremony. The priest takes the lead in the process by making the sign of Cross, reciting scriptural passages, prayers, and ritualistic terms transliterated from Latin, and consecrating the bread and wine. As for the converts, they are supposed to follow the prescribed guideline and perform their parts accordingly. All these emblematic objects, mystical words, and symbolic movements and gestures contribute to a ritualistic presentation of the Christian other in the Chinese context. The introduction of the liturgy of the mass in late Ming China may be better characterized as a two-way appropriation. As we can see from the questions raised by the guest in Aleni’s preface to Misa jiyi, some Chinese converts were puzzled by such a routinized liturgy. Other converts, however, praised it as a ceremony similar to the ancient Chinese models. In his Daiyi pian, Yang Tingyun writes: “I often see that, on the zhanli days, many people gather in the church to listen to misa. They kneel down and worship in silence till the end of the liturgy. Only this [ritual] is appropriate to what have been called ‘wordless’ (wuyan 無言) and ‘no disputation’ (mizheng 靡爭).”147 The two words Yang mentions originate from a poem in Shijing, which describes the solemn ritual of the Shang people in worshipping their ancestor Cheng Tang.148 By referring to this classical example, Yang intentionally links the liturgy of the mass with the early Confucian sacrificial models. On the other hand, when transmitting the mass from Europe to

145

The summary is based on Misa jiyi (CCT BnF), pp. 553-632, and the simplified version in Misa lijie, pp. 1147-1179. For a translation of the whole ceremonial process, see Dudink 2007, pp. 237-241.

146

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 157.

147

DYP, p. 569.

148

The original sentence is 鬷假無言, 時靡有爭, meaning the people gather in the temple and silently make their offerings to the deities, without any disputation. See Kong Yingda 孔穎 達, Maoshi zhengyi 毛詩正義 (Annotation of the Book of Songs), in SSJZS, vol. 1, p. 621.

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China the Jesuit missionaries also subtly appropriated some Chinese ways of devotion, among which the kowtow performance was the most remarkable.149 Kouduo richao offers no specific description of how the mass is performed in Fujian Catholic communities. Yet, the work contains some valuable information connected to Aleni’s Misa jiyi. For example, in a dialogue on July 16, 1632, Chen guangwen (Chen Zhongdan 陳衷丹), who has not become a convert by then, challenges Aleni with his doubt at the validity of the liturgy of the mass in the context of Chinese tradition. In China, he argues, different sacrificial rites should be conducted by people from different social classes. The emperor offers sacrifices to heaven and earth, the dukes make sacrifices to mountains and rivers, while the gentry and the commoners can only offer sacrifices to the ancestors. If all people regardless of social status can worship the Lord of Heaven, would this not be some kind of usurpation and profanation? This argument is based on a passage from the Confucian classic Liji 禮記 (Book of Rites), which not only puts emphasis on a hierarchy of sacrifices in accordance with different social classes but also claims that sacrifices conducted by an unqualified person cannot bring him any good fortune.150 In response, Aleni argues: Sacrifice and worship are not the same. In China only the Son of Heaven is entitled to perform the jiao and she rites; this serves to highlight the importance of the event. According to our Holy Doctrine only the priest is entitled to celebrate the misa rite; this serves to highlight the importance of the office. As regards worship, considering all the bounties the Lord of Heaven has given us, by creating the heaven that covers and the earth the sustains; by creating angels to guard us and by creating all things to comfort and feed us: who does not receive all those things day by day, and who would not seek to express his gratitude? Even if we would spend the whole day from dawn till dusk in adoration and worship, we only could requite an infinitesimal part of it by our gratitude. Do you call that “sacrifice”? Do you call that “usurpation” and “profanation”?151

It is clear that Aleni has no intention to reject the orthodox Confucian view quoted by Chen, but his parallel between the Chinese emperor and the Catholic priest still sounds somewhat dubious. In a sense, the so-called difference between “the importance of the event” and “the importance of the office” serves better for 149

A “five-kowtow ritual” (wubai li 五拜禮) recorded in Tianzhu jiaoyao may testify to this rituallistic appropriation. The converts should kowtow five times, each time with a short, devout proclamation. The first three are for the faith, hope, and love to the Lord of Heaven. The fourth is to confirm the spiritual renewal. The last is for the blessing of the Holy Mother as the mediatrix between the Lord and man. See TZJY, pp. 366-367. This hybrid ritual is said to have been initiated by François de Rougemont in his Jiangsu mission. Chinese converts were also allowed to perform kowtow in the funeral ceremony. See Xu Yunxi 1965, pp. 56, 88.

150

Kong Yingda, Liji zhengyi 禮記正義 (Annotation of the Book of Rites), in SSJZS, vol. 1, p. 1268.

151

KDRC, pp. 220-221; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 358.

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the sake of argumentation than for substantial differentiation. But Aleni does clearly makes his point on the special role of the Catholic priest, who should be the only authorized person in administering the liturgy of the mass, together with other sacraments such as baptism and confession. Kouduo richao records numerous occasions where the Jesuit masters and Fujian converts engage in discussions on some key parts of the mass, especially the Eucharist, or receiving the Host (ling Shengti ). On June 24, 1637, the feast day for St. John the Baptist, after the converts of Dehua have received the Host, Aleni delivers a homily on the main theme of this holiday. To make the concept of transubstantiation more accessible to the converts, he first compares Jesus to a ruler dressed like an ordinary person to observe social customs. Those who recognize the ruler will respect and serve him, but the ignorant people treat him disrespectfully. The ruler knows those who are good and who are not, and later he will reward and punish them accordingly. The same logic can be applied to the embodiment of Jesus’ body and soul in bread, the visible form of his invisible, divine substance. Therefore, “Those who look at it with the eyes of the spirit [shenmu 神目] respect him and firmly believe in him; those who only do so with the eyes of the body [rouyan 肉眼] look at him with scorn and contempt.”152 With such a distinction between the physical and the spiritual, Aleni confirms that the Host must be the mysterious substantiation of the incarnated Lord, and he exhorts the converts to follow the example of St. John who sincerely accepted Jesus as the true Lord of Heaven. While Vagnone and da Rocha focus on the doctrinal explanations on transubstantiation in their writings, Aleni goes a step further in preaching and consciously appropriates the Chinese understanding of rulership, thus superposing a new layer of interpretation on a distinctive Christian concept. Elsewhere in Kouduo richao, Aleni expounds on the great importance of the Eucharist for man’s salvation. For one thing, it is a privilege of man to receive the Lord’s grace and have communion with him. In comparison, the angels are spiritual beings who can enjoy the bliss in heaven, but they cannot experience the Eucharist in bodily form. The routinely recited phrase “be with you,” Aleni claims, “means that when I receive the Eucharist all the three persons of the Lord of Heaven descend upon my body. Through the Eucharist He is with me, and I on my part try to identify myself with the Supreme Lord’s intention every moment and with every thought. Therefore I am with the Lord, and the Lord is forever with me.”153 Moreover, the Eucharist received by the faithful serves as a kind of spiritual food to nourish their soul in a long journey to heaven, prefigured by the manna falling from heaven to feed those hungry Jews on their way back to the homeland of Judea.154 Even though the references are not specified, we still

152

KDRC, p. 510; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 562.

153

KDRC, pp. 367-369; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 466.

154

KDRC, pp. 369-371, 423-424; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 467-468, 506.

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can recognize that Aleni thoughtfully weaves biblical messages from both the New Testament and the Old Testament into his doctrinal instructions. Likely because of the increasing demands from Fujian converts, Aleni was motivated to compile and publish Shengti yaoli in 1644.155 It appears to be the only late Ming Jesuit treatise exclusively devoted to the sacrament of the Eucharist. The two-part structure of the work looks similar to that of Misa jiyi. In the first part, Aleni introduces several important aspects on the Eucharist, such as its origin, the purposes to establish it among the Christians, and its great power in many miracles. In the second part, he gives detailed prescriptions on how one should prepare oneself before the sacrament and how to receive the Host in the liturgy of the mass. Generally speaking, the work is a well-structured compendium that incorporates various different sources. Some of the exegetical explanations directly refer to Misa jiyi, while some others may be connected with the discussions of the Eucharist between Aleni and Chinese converts recorded in Kouduo richao. The prescriptions on one’s preparation for the Eucharist and the actual ritual in receiving the Host are treated as embedded parts in the liturgy of the mass. At the end, Aleni adds three Eucharistic prayers. The first two, likely composed by Aleni himself, are supposed to be recited before and after the Eucharistic sacrament. The third one, titled “Yesu Shengti daowen” 耶穌聖體禱文 (Prayer on the Holy Body of Jesus), is said to be translated by Aleni. The possible source may be the Eucharistic litany of Venerabili Sacramento, in Fasciculus Sacrarum Litaniarum ex Sanctis Scripturis & Patribus, an early 17th-century prayer collection compiled by the Bavarian Jesuit Georg Mayr (1564–1623).156 This text became one of the most popular prayers promoted by the Jesuits in China.157 In his explanations, Aleni inserts numerous passages in the question-andanswer pattern. They are likely based on Aleni’s personal experiences with the inquiries made by the local converts, thus most of them sound practical and specific, for example, “Why did Lord Jesus in establishing the sacrament of the Eucharist only use bread and wine instead of other things?” “How come the whole body of Jesus can be reduced into a small piece of bread?” and “What should be done if a person cannot physically receive the Host due to reasons such as living far away from the church or without any priest available at the neighborhood?” To these questions, Aleni provides various explanations, not necessarily doctrinal, to affirm the authority and applicability of the Eucharistic sacrament in Chinese Catholic communities. 155

Criveller 1997, pp. 186-189.

156

I have found two editions of Mayr’s text, one from 1606 and the other from 1614. Since the 1614 edition was brought to China by the Jesuits, the copy that Aleni referred to in translation should be this edition. For the copy of Mayr’s 1614 edition sent to the China mission, see Catalogue de la Bibliothèque du Pé-T’ang, No. 2213, p. 646.

157

Aleni’s text appears in the second volume of the contemporary work Shengjiao rike 聖教日 課 (Daily Lessons for the Holy Doctrine, ca. 1637), with some modified expressions, such as the first of seven prayers modeled after litanies from the above-mentioned work of Mayr.

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In Shengti yaoli, Aleni’s prescription on how to receive the Host deserves special attention. He writes: When one enters the church, he should join in the liturgy of the mass with a respectful attitude, reciting all prayers before receiving the Host, meditating on the wonderful greatness of the Host, remaining serious and concentrated, and without daring to chat or look around in distraction. As soon as he sees the priest reaching for the Holy Chalice, he should respectfully come up to the altar, kneel down, and recite the Confiteor together with the acolyte. When the priest holds the Host facing the congregation, he bows and beats the chest three times, reciting in silence with the priest, “I, a humble and filthy sinner, humiliate my Lord to condescend to me. My heart is thirsty and hungry. I dare to ask my Lord to bestow an order. The diseases in my heart will be totally cured.” When the priest is about to confer the Host, he should move his head up a bit, open his mouth, and respectfully receive it. After this, he bows and thanks for the grace, not daring to chew it with the teeth. The acolyte brings clear water for him to drink and swallow, in case that the Host sticks to the throat, which is a profane act. After the ritual, he returns to his place and engages in five efforts: meditation, thankfulness, shamefulness, pleading, and dedication. Then he should recite the prayers after receiving the Host. When the liturgy of the mass is completed, he should not hastily rise up with others, and he should not talk with others immediately, or spit, for the purpose to remain respectful.158

In this episode, we see that a convert can physically receive the Host during the liturgy of the mass, while in Misa jiyi Aleni prescribes that a convert stay in his place and partake of the Host in a spiritual way while watching the priest receive it at the altar. Of course, this requires that the convert has made a special request for receiving the Host and obtained the approval of the priest beforehand. The act thus becomes a privilege granted to the qualified converts upon their requests. This can be attested by the records in Kouduo richao. On several occasions, at least, it is said that the converts request to receive the Eucharist from the Jesuit priests.159 In this sense, the compilation of Shengti yaoli should be seen as another effort of Aleni in implementing the essential and formalized Catholic liturgies for the expanding Fujian Catholic communities in the 1630s and 1640s. Despite the remarkable efforts in both prescriptive writings and practices made by Aleni and his confreres, the implementation of the Holy Mass sacrifice still encountered numerous difficulties. For one thing, the Latin prayers and phrases were predominantly used in the liturgy, showing the Jesuits’ adherence to the rules of the Catholic Church. However, the language was totally unintelligible to Chinese converts. As a result, the liturgy appeared to be more like a one-man show than a communal gathering. This awkward situation forced the Jesuits, including Aleni, to spend more efforts on explanations of the procedure which was common knowledge to European believers. However, the additional explana158

Shengti yaoli (CCT BnF ), pp. 281-282.

159

KDRC, pp. 281, 367, 509; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 405, 466, 562.

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tions also gave leeway to them to change certain Catholic liturgical protocols within a Chinese context. Another challenge came from the anti-Christian scholars. They put the Catholic liturgies into the category of yinsi 淫祀 (literally “excessive sacrifice”), which consisted of heterodox and cultic practices not only rejected in Confucian orthodoxy but also banned in Daming lü 大明律 (Great Ming Code).160 In one criticism, the author wrote, “[The believers] consume enchanted water and oil, and drink wine as the blood of the Lord of Heaven and eat bread as his flesh. They also put a stone on top of the altar, claiming that it is the bone of the Lord of Heaven. If a man consumes the Holy Water and the Holy Oil, even though he has done evil things throughout his entire life, the Lord of Heaven would still redeem all his past sins because of a single thought of conversion. Their Lord Jesus has been nailed to death for deceiving the people with fallacies. He could not even get forgiveness for himself, how could he be the one to forgive others? ”161 Although based on superficial observation, this comment pointed at the moral “defects” of the Christian God and stimulated further suspicion among conservative scholars. In Shengchao zuopi, Xu Dashou criticizes the “barbarians” on a moral basis and judges that they are self-contradictory in doctrine and practice: They establish the rule of “not looking at another man’s wife,” yet they convene the wives and daughters of the converts and give them secret teachings, “pour the Holy Water, drip the Holy Oil, confer the Holy Casket, take the Holy Salt, light the holy candles, share the holy bread, sway the holy fan, hide behind a red drapery, wear strange garments, and mingle at night time.”162 In Xu’s mind, the Catholic rituals are nothing but immorality and disorder. Moreover, these criticisms found support in official documents, e.g., the prohibition of Christianity issued by the Nanjing court in 1616, in which Catholic rituals are aligned with specific articles on illegal religious gatherings and heterodox rituals in Daming lü.163 These cases indicate that the Jesuits had to face challenges when implementing the liturgy of the mass in China. They could accumulate sufficient confidence to present Western science and achieve a doctrinal synthesis between Christianity and Confucianism, but a hybrid Christian–Confucian ritual system did not develop beyond an experimental stage during the late Ming period. 160

As a matter of fact, the term yinsi has already been indicated by Chen guangwen, though implicitly, in his quotation from Liji when questioning Aleni on the authority of the priest in administering the liturgy of the mass. The original text says that “sacrifices conducted by an unentitled person are called excessive sacrifices, which cannot bring any good fortune.” See Kong Yingda, Liji zhengyi, in SSJZS, vol. 1, p. 1268. In Daming lü, it is also clearly stated that “If a man makes sacrifices to the deities to whom he is not entitled to worship, whip him eighty times.” See Daming lü, p. 88.

161

Shengchao poxie ji, p. 308.

162

Shengchao zuopi, in Shengchao poxie ji, p. 208.

163

For the announcement of prohibition issued by the Bureau of Rites in the Nanjing court, see Shengchao poxie ji, p. 117.

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5.4. Chinese Rites and Customs in Question Among late Ming Christian works, including Kouduo richao, dialogic exchanges between the Jesuits and the converts often address some controversial Chinese rituals, especially those involving weddings and funerals. The contending voices in their discussions indicate different traditions of marital and funerary rituals in Europe and China. From the European side, the enforcement of ritual authority has been a major concern of the Catholic Church in the Counter-Reformation movement, as can be seen through the canons issued in the Council of Trent and the establishment of Congregation of Rites (1588) by Pope Sixtus V (1520–1590). There were heated debates among Catholics and their Protestant opponents on the classifications of the rituals in terms of the sacramental and the secular. Matrimony, which had already become an established ecclesiastical liturgy in the 12th century, was re-confirmed by the Catholic Church as one of the Seven Sacraments instituted by Christ himself. 164 As to funerals, the Catholic Church also imposed many prescriptive texts, such as Missale Romanum (1570) and Rituale Romanum (1575–1614), to strengthen its ecclesiastical authority in funerary services that had been established during the late medieval period.165 As a result, weddings and funerals in 17th century Europe continued to be clergy-dominated liturgies situated in the church building, with elaborate and routinized procedures led by priests. In late Ming China, on the other hand, weddings and funerals continued to be family-based rituals and an integral part of Chinese social and cultural life. They opened up a public sphere for Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism to engage in dynamic competitions and negotiations with each other. In funeral, the exchanges among these three schools were especially remarkable. The late Ming Confucians would on the one hand criticize Buddhist and Daoist funeral rituals as well as vulgar geomantic practices, and promote the regulations prescribed in Zhu Xi’s Jiali 家禮 (Family Rituals) on the other hand.166 Their key concern was to recover the essential Confucian values in family relationship, social network, and spiritual bonds between the living and the dead. However, these efforts did not stop the extensive involvement of Buddhism and Daoism in funeral ceremonies. Equipped with special knowledge and skills, Buddhist and Daoist priests claimed to be able to console the spirits of the deceased ones, help them reach the paradise in the afterlife, and obtain blessings for the good fortune of a family. These services were aligned with fundamental Buddhist or Daoist beliefs regarding life and death, yet in the course of time they also absorbed some Confucian moral values, especially filial piety. As a result, many conservative Confucians would compromise in one way or another on popular funerary practices. Not surpris164

“Sacrament of Marriage,” www.newadvent.org/cathen/09707a.htm (accessed March 12, 2018); Martos 2001, pp. 368-385.

165

For a summary on the prescriptive texts and the shifts of European funeral rituals after the late medieval period, see Standaert 2008, pp. 25-34.

166

Standaert 2008, pp. 17-25.

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ingly, the juxtaposition or interweaving of different rituals for weddings and funerals reinforced the religious syncretism of the three schools on a theoretical level. When the Jesuits arrived in China in the late Ming period, they encountered marriage and funeral rituals very different from the church-dominated models in Europe. It comes as no surprise that Ricci recorded many details of these rituals in his journal, often in comparison with their European counterparts. The funeral rites for parents are extravagant and baroque, showing the Chinese emphasis on filial piety. The mourners wear white garments and observe the three-year mourning period. There is a special book on funeral rites, which provides detailed instructions on how to perform the ritual in a proper way. The body of a parent is put in a sealed coffin, which may likely be kept in the house for three or four years. At the burial ceremony, the funeral procession includes not only family members and relatives but also people carrying paper figures to be burnt at the burial site and Buddhist monks reciting prayers. In addition to funerals, Ricci also explains the Chinese customs of arranged marriage and concubinage. He particularly notes that a Chinese emperor may have numerous wives and concubines, but there is only one legitimate wife, i.e., the empress. All sons born to the emperor regard her as their legitimate mother and observe the three-years mourning period only for her instead of their biological mothers.167 While Ricci’s observations may have served as an introduction of Chinese funeral and marriage customs to European readers, the Jesuits in China had to deal with complex cases when adapting to Chinese rituals. The longstanding Chinese wedding and funeral rituals reflected deep cultural imperatives and forced the missionaries to accept syncretic practices among Chinese converts. Moreover, their criticism of Chinese concubinage and rejection of superstitious Chinese funeral rituals continued to incur heated debates throughout the late Ming and the early Qing periods. 5.4.1. Marriage

Among the early 17th-century Jesuit works, including Shengjing yuelu, Tianzhu jiaoyao, and Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe, the main components of Catholic marriage have been introduced in the sacrament of matrimony, either transliterated as madilimoniu 瑪地利摩紐 (matrimonium) or translated as hunpei 婚配 in Chinese. In his Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe, Vagnone adopts the popular Chinese concept yinyang to highlight the Catholic norm of yifu yifu 一夫一婦, i.e., monogamy. He further lists three concerns related to the sacrament of matrimony: love between husband and wife; raising children who can in turn serve the Lord of Heaven and the parents; and no divorce is permitted in one’s lifetime. At the end, Vagnone also mentions the concept of chastity according to the Confucian moral ideal.168 Unlike Vagnone’s explanations on the other sacraments, the authority of the 167

Gallagher 1953, pp. 72-76.

168

TZJYJL, pp. 239-240.

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priest in administering matrimony is not specified. This may be partly due to the fact that the Jesuits would treat matrimony as a less important sacrament in the European context. 169 Little is known about how the Jesuits enforced the sacraments in practice in late Ming China. Marriages of Chinese converts tended to mix Chinese family-based patterns with certain Christian elements, but they did not necessarily follow the clergy-dominated pattern as in Europe.170 The Jesuits’ secondary concern for matrimony did not mean that Catholic elements were absent in marriages among Chinese converts. As Philippe Couplet (Bo Yingli 柏應理, 1623–1693) describes in his biography of Madame Candida Xu, the grand-daughter of Xu Guangqi, her marriage with a non-Christian in 1621 set up an example for situations requiring expediency. The Church authorities in Rome had to treat it as an exception largely due to the small number of converts in China. According to Couplet’s account, Candida’s marriage exposed a strong hybrid tendency: on the wedding day the bride only bowed to the holy picture of Christ, yet the bridegroom bowed to whatever idol images he and his family worshiped. Both families were pleased at such a solution. With this example, Couplet in his biography restates the need to make a compromise: Till now [i.e., 1680s] we still cannot follow the institution of marriage issued by the Council of Trent. The priest cannot administer the liturgy for marriage, nor can he serve as the witness of marriage, not to mention letting the husband and wife hold hands together to express love and will. Therefore, when spreading the gospel in China we must act according to expediency. If we forcefully carry out the sacramental rules, our work will be ruined and the opportunities for mission and preaching will be blocked.171

Couplet’s words indicate the Jesuits’ dilemma in handling Chinese marriage in the late Ming and early Qing periods. The “expediency” he suggested should be understood as tolerance of Chinese rituals, or in Candida’s case, flexibility in blending Chinese and Christian rituals. Though the Jesuits in China could not enforce the institution of marriage according to the European standard, they still tried to introduce Western marriage in a general sense so as to show how different it was from Chinese marriage. A good example in this respect is Aleni’s Xifang dawen. In this interesting dialogic work that records questions and answers on the West between Aleni and Chinese scholars, a few distinctive marriage customs in the West are discussed. As we can see in the following passage, Aleni consciously blends religious and cultural meanings when he clarifies the major differences between Western marriage and Chinese marriage. Question: What are the marriage rites in your country? Answer: They are partly the same as in China, partly different. Generally speaking, people are over twenty years of age when they marry, because they 169

O’Malley 1993, pp. 134-164.

170

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 166.

171

Xu Yunxi 1965, pp. 20-23.

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are strong and vigorous at that age. Engagements are usually entered into just before marriage. If there is no mutual agreement between the parties directly concerned, no one can compel them to marry. People obey the commandment: one husband, one wife; there is absolutely no concubinage. Husband and wife grow old together; they do not separate or divorce each other. Even kings have only one lawful wife; there are no royal concubines at all, because they want to observe the precepts of the Christian religion themselves, so as to set an example to the whole country. When arranging marriages, though physical appearance and financial status are investigated, yet a virtuous character is the main factor.172

This concise statement presents an exemplary case of Aleni’s mastery of dialogue. He says that Western marriage and Chinese marriage are similar in some aspects but different in other aspects. But only in the last major aspect on virtuous character can we see some similarity between the two. The other aspects of Western marriage rather refer to differences with Chinese marriage, either implicitly or explicitly. First, there is the difference in marital age: Western people normally get married at the age of twenty or above, but Chinese people get married as early as at the age of fifteen or sixteen for men and thirteen or fourteen for women, according to Zhu Xi’s Jiali.173 Second, Western marriage is made between two consenting parties, while in China marriage is arranged by parents without the agreement of those to be married. The two differences have also been observed by Ricci.174 The third aspect, i.e., monogamy, more clearly indicates Aleni’s intention: On the one hand, he stresses a religious “commandment” to affirm the Christian foundation of Western marriage. On the other hand, he regards concubinage a violation of the Christian precepts. He emphasizes this critique with regard to the Chinese context: The custom of concubinage in China is a severe case of this violation, and more seriously, the rulers who have many wives may not be qualified to set a good example for the country. In this dialogic exchange, one can see an interplay of the self and the other that enacts a transition from individual voices to a collective voice. While the Chinese scholar would use China as a template to learn about the otherness in Western marriage, Aleni rather focuses on the Chinese otherness in his presentation of Western marriage. The following discussion on concubinage in China further reflects the uncompromising stance of Aleni and the other Jesuits. The Chinese scholar appreciates such a firm stance, which to him can be tied with Chinese understanding of the Way in terms of one yin and one yang. But he then brings forward a practical matter: In China, if a middle-aged man is heirless, he will risk being called unfilial if he does not take a concubine to continue the family lineage. What can he do to reconcile the fulfillment of Chinese filial piety and the Christian prohibition of concubinage? This reminds us of the aforementioned cases of Xu Guangqi and 172

Mish 1964, p. 57. I quote the translation with a few minor modifications.

173

Jiali, p. 895.

174

Gallagher 1953, p. 75.

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other literati converts who were obliged to overcome such an obstacle before baptism. In his response, Aleni says: To have only one spouse not only conforms to the orthodox Way, but also helps smooth child-bearing. Therefore, many sons are born in my native country by the grace and favor of the Lord, the Creator. On the other hand, in countries where marriage takes place early and concubines are allowed, people are often without heirs. Moreover, what can one do in cases where the concubine fails to bear any son? Even if she does, the cost (of keeping her) is great. So why not be content with one’s fate and let nature take its course? Furthermore, whether a man is filial or not depends on his moral character, and not on his having a son. Suppose there are two men: one disobedient and rebellious, who pays no attention to his parents, but with many sons and grandsons; the other obedient and considerate, who takes care of his parents according to their wishes, but without a son. Can one say that the former is filial, and the latter not?175

Here Aleni skillfully uses rhetorical arguments in a comparison between the “orthodox” Western custom of monogamy and the problematic Chinese custom of concubinage. His claim that in Europe many sons are born because of the Christian faith, while taking a concubine is obviously not a sufficient condition to guarantee the birth of a son, is somewhat misleading. Additionally, Aleni refers to the “moral character” (de 德), a key concept in Confucian thought, to measure the real meaning of filial piety. By the figurative example of two men, he suggests that Chinese people risk deviating from the Confucian orthodoxy, and he is obliged to redirect them to the correct understanding and practice by means of Tianxue. In fact, the above discussion on Chinese concubinage is based on Aleni’s exchanges with Fujian scholars in the early 1630s, for which we can find concrete evidence from Kouduo richao. On one occasion, Huang wenxue 黃文學 in Putian asks Aleni why the Sixth Commandment forbids a man to take a concubine.176 Huang’s reasoning resonates with that of the above-mentioned Chinese scholar. Aleni’s multi-layered arguments likewise correspond to those he presents in Xifang dawen: The master put him to the test, saying: “If that man takes a concubine and he still gets no son, what will he do?” The licentiate said: “In that case he just will accept the situation as it is.” The master said: “If he in that case is prepared to accept the situation as it is, would it not be even better to accept the situation as it is without taking a concubine? Marriage is the correct way and concubinage is the wrong way. Apart from the fact that not every concubine will bear a son: even if she happens to get one much harm is done. In general, when people have difficulty begetting

175

Mish 1964, p. 58. I have made a few changes in the translation.

176

Huang wenxue has been identified by Lin Jinshui as Huang Youheng 黃幼衡. See Lin Jinshui 1996, p. 190.

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offspring, it is true that often the defect is due to the wife, but there also are cases in which it is due to the husband. If it is due to the wife the husband [as you say] is bound to take a second wife in the name of filial piety. But suppose that the defect is due to the husband: would the wife then be allowed to take a second husband in the name of filial piety? Man and wife are one. If [taking a second partner] is not allowed to her, it is not allowed to him either. Why don’t you look at it the other way round, in all fairness? Moreover, whether a man is filial or unfilial does not depend on his having or not having sons. To make a comparison: suppose we have two men here. One of them is in many ways obstinate and disobedient, but he has sons and grandsons in abundance. The other one honors his parents and cares for them from dawn till dusk, but he has no son. Would it then make sense to say that the first one is filial and the second one is not?177

Here Aleni not only points out a situation that a man who takes a concubine may still be heirless, but he also presents a terminological distinction between the “correct way” (zhengdao 正道) and the “wrong way” (wangdao 枉道). This distinction aims to set a standard for both proper family morality and true religious belief. As to the argument on the wife taking a second husband in the name of filial piety, it does not mean Aleni is a supporter of gender equality. Rather it should be seen as a rhetorical device suggesting that filial piety cannot be the excuse for a husband to take advantage of his privilege. At the end, Aleni gives the same figurative example of two men. This dialogue creates an ironic effect, because Aleni is teaching Huang, who is himself a Confucian instructor, on how to interpret the fundamental Confucian idea of filial piety. Though in this case he does not quote any passage from the Confucian classics, Aleni subtly appropriates the voice of an orthodox Confucian scholar in criticizing the custom of concubinage. The discussion between Aleni and Huang wenxue is recorded in Kouduo richao by Li Jiubiao, who takes up the same subject on the next day. Having thought over his master’s reasoning, Li brings forward an antithetical presumption: If one takes a concubine and gets a son, does this mean that the Lord of Heaven has done nothing to prevent it? Aleni of course does not think so, and his answer bears certain religious implications. If one prays for a good fortune in the proper way, he will receive the eternal award from the Lord whether his prayer is answered or not. However, if he does not pray in the proper way, he will get the eternal punishment. The result, Aleni argues, is the distinction between earthly happiness, which is insignificant and momentary, and spiritual happiness, which can only be achieved by true goodness.178 Aleni’s strategic arguments also encouraged the converts to express their personal voices while reinterpreting this controversial issue. On one occasion dated June 18, 1632, Lin taixue asks Aleni whether taking a concubine in order to produce a male heir for the fulfillment of filial piety is adultery prohibited in the 177

KDRC, pp. 153-155; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 308-309.

178

KDRC, pp. 155-156.

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Christian teaching. He uses the example of the sage King Shun’s marriage with the two daughters of the sage King Yao, to challenge Aleni’s critical view on the Chinese custom of polygamy. Apparently, Lin’s argument is based upon the wellknown statement of Mencius: “There are three things which are unfilial, and to have no posterity is the greatest of all three. Shun married without informing his parents because he was afraid of having no posterity. A gentleman considers this as if he had informed [them].” 179 By quoting from the authoritative saying of Mencius, Lin shows his question is well-founded. In response to the challenge, Aleni smiles and tells Lin that he has already discussed the same topic with Zhang Geng a day before. Since Zhang is now right by his side, he suggests Lin turn to him for a response. As a Confucian convert, Zhang does not dismiss the great virtues of Yao and Shun. But he takes a subtle approach to question the veracity of Shun’s marrying two wives. Even if the story might be true, Zhang argues, it is still improper to imitate those sage kings in this trivial act instead of emulating their other great virtues and achievements. His argument not only echoes Aleni’s example above on virtue, but it also alludes to the point made by Pantoja in Qike.180 Following Zhang, Yan Weisheng joins in the discussion with an unusual explanation: E’huang 娥皇 and Nü Ying 女英, the names of the two daughters of Shun, might instead refer to a composite name of Yao’s second daughter. The mistake was then turned into a pretext for the vulgar custom of concubinage in late generations. Yan consciously uses the dialogic situation to present his view as an alternative solution. His reinterpretation of the Confucian classics is unfounded, though it turns out that the Jesuit missionaries and the converts would be willing to accept it. In support of his disciples, Aleni concludes the discussion with his own comment: “What a pity that [the kings] Tang and Wu are used as a pretext for usurpation and regicide, and Yao and Shun as a pretext for adultery! Alas, that so many myopic people are acting like this!”181 Though Aleni, Zhang, and Yan share the same view on concubinage, they choose different ways to express it. Aleni’s position is firmly rooted in Christian orthodoxy while adapting to Confucian concepts. On the other hand, Zhang Geng and Yan Weisheng take a stance in line with Confucian orthodoxy while adapting to the Catholic doctrine. This exchange shows how the subtle interplay of self–other takes place simultaneously at two levels: first among Christians (i.e., missionaries and Chinese converts) and nonbelievers, and then among Christians themselves. Despite their rejection of concubinage, it was difficult for the Jesuits to abolish a custom so well-entrenched in Chinese culture. In the above discussion, Aleni and the converts do not mention the destiny of the sage kings who had 179

Legge 2001, vol. 1, p. 313; fn. 26. The other two unfilial acts are to encourage parents to do unrighteous things and to engage in official service without taking care of the parents’ poverty and old age. I have made a few changes in the translation.

180

Qike (TXCH), p. 1051.

181

KDRC, pp. 206-208; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 346.

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many wives and concubines, but this matter was not overlooked by anti-Christian scholars. During his first visit to Zhangzhou, Aleni was challenged by Huang Zhen with this question, and he had to admit that King Wen may possibly be in hell for taking concubines.182 Xu Dashou also wrote about the negative example of his friend who was poor and heirless at an advanced age. The friend purchased a concubine, and she gave birth to a son. When he converted to Christianity, however, he drove away the concubine upon the request of the “barbarian” priest. Xu was upset at the unfair treatment of the two-year old child. In his mind, the evil Christian religion violated Confucian morality on both family and personal levels.183 In fact, under the great pressure to maintain the family lineage, some leading Confucian converts took a concubine in secret in old age. Wang Zheng, for example, at the age of 53 was forced by family members to take a young concubine, but due to such severe sin he did not get approval from the Jesuit priests to make confession. 184 Years after his secret marriage, ironically, Wang was still praised by Aleni in Kouduo richao for his public rejection of taking a concubine.185 Being a leader among Fujian converts, Zhang Geng may possibly have taken a concubine as well after both of his sons died at a young age.186 This could be the reason that Xu Dashou makes a sarcastic remark, saying “[The barbarian] forbids his disciples to look at another man’s wife, but he himself does not bother about getting close to women. He urges his disciples to put away their concubines, while several of the best ones still keep their concubines.”187 Aleni and the other Jesuits may have been able to uphold their uncompromising stance on Chinese concubinage in scholarly debates, but in reality they were obliged to face these sensitive cases that did not conform with their adaptation policy. 5.4.2. Funerals

Funerals played an extremely important role in Chinese religious and cultural life, and for this reason they were another much debated subject among the Jesuits and Chinese converts in the late Ming and early Qing periods. The early Jesuits introduced the liturgy of Extreme Unction, transliterated as e’sidelemawengzang 阨 斯得肋麻翁藏 or translated as zhongfu 終傅.188 It was prescribed as a sacrament administered by the priest right before the death of a convert, and thus was not 182

Huang Zhen, Qing Yan Zhuangqi xiansheng pi Tianzhujiao shu 請顏壯其先生闢天主教書 (Letter to Invite Mr. Yan to Refute the Catholic Doctrine), see Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 150-151.

183

Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 207-208.

184

For a biographic account on Wang Zheng and his marriage, see Huang Yi-long 2006, pp. 144-156.

185

KDRC, p. 106; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 258.

186

Huang Yi-long 2006, pp. 93-96.

187

Shengchao poxie ji, pp. 218-219.

188

TZJYJL, p. 236; TZJY, p. 343.

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involved in the funeral rituals. It seemed that the Jesuits did not enforce it in a strict way, as the physical contact involved was a very sensitive matter in Chinese society, especially for female converts. By the late 17th century, the Jesuits still administered the sacrament with great caution, often only at the request of the converts, as we can see in the case of Candida Xu.189 Despite their careful implementation of the Extreme Unction, the Jesuits managed to find various ways to obtain knowledge of Chinese funeral customs on the one hand and introduce Western funeral customs on the other. Once again, Xifang dawen serves as an illuminative example in this respect. Here, Aleni not only explains the main components of the church-based funerals in the West, but he also indicates a missionary perspective on Chinese funerals through comparison. According to him, funerals are considered important ceremonies both in Europe and in China. However, there are still a number of differences, regarding the graves and tombs, the coffins, the mourning clothes, and the funeral procession. Graves in the West are not on hills or uninhabited places, but inside the towns near a church, as the members do not want to be far from it in hope for the protection of the Lord of Heaven. Coffins are made of varied materials, and they are not allowed to be stood upright for any length of time. People do not dress in white mourning clothes, but don black ones to represent the darkness of the afterlife. Regarding the funeral procession, Aleni gives a description centering on the activities that take place in the church: During every mass or sermon, and for every funeral, the bells are rung to let everyone know. Funerals are attended, in addition to the relatives, by religious associations at people’s request. Their members pray for the soul of the deceased to the Lord of Heaven. The chief mourner gives each person a candle to be lit and carried in the procession, so that it is illuminated brilliantly. Whether these candles be large or small, many or few, everybody strives to procure them according to his means; they are made of beeswax. At the funeral of a lay or ecclesiastical dignitary or a man of great virtue, whose merits are superior to the average, a scaffold is erected in the church (the more revered the deceased, the higher the scaffold), which may reach tens of stories. The coffin is placed on top of it, and thousands of candles are lit. After a solemn funeral mass the coffin is taken down and buried. Also on the day of the funeral food, drink, and money are distributed among the poor to atone for the sins of the deceased and to acquire merit. This is an important ceremony for which people dare not save expense. In the case of a great dignitary this may amount to thousands of ounces of silver.190

Except for the part on the lit candles, Aleni does not present a full picture of the Catholic funeral procession, which should normally consist of the clergy in the lead, confraternities of lay people, coffin bearers, and mourners (e.g., family

189

Xu Yunxi 1965, p. 83.

190

Mish 1964, p. 61.

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members and friends).191 He just focuses on what happens in the church, suggesting that it is the central place for funeral services. Along with this selective presentation of a distinctive Western funeral, Aleni seems to further reflect on the major aspects of Chinese funerals that he considered very different from the West. Understandably, he and other fellow Jesuits would follow these aspects to adapt to, modify, or reject native Chinese funerary customs. Ricci and other early Jesuits recognized that Chinese funerals were a mixture of rituals from Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and secular cults. While they were trying to realize a gradual embedding of the Christian funeral model in the Chinese context, the Jesuits often had to rely on Chinese converts who initiated experimental efforts in search of some variants agreeable to both Christian and Chinese standards, or in other words, hybrid patterns of funeral rituals. In the case of Yang Tingyun’s parents, for example, we can notice such a tendency in numerous details. According to the Jesuits’ accounts, the funeral of Yang’s father included the funeral mass, black mourning clothes, and candles, which were commonly seen in a Christian funeral. In the funeral of his mother, Yang wore white sackcloth and had incense burnt before the altar, indicating the Chinese character of the rite, while the funeral mass, the image of Christ, and black damask decorations, were an outward expression of Christian elements. According to contemporary Chinese sources, however, Yang was said to have followed Zhu Xi’s Jiali, with which he defended himself in face of the relatives who blamed him for not using Buddhist funeral services. In order to convince others that he was not frugal in treating his parents, Yang doubled the amount of charity for a Buddhist service and distributed to the old, crippled, prisoners, orphans, and widows.192 The sources above indicate diverse concerns of Jesuit reporters and Chinese biographers towards the same funerary events. Moreover, they show us how Yang as one of the elite converts began to explore certain ways to juxtapose or blend Chinese and Christian rituals in practice and meanwhile reject Buddhist rituals, thereby reinforcing his claim of Confucian–Christian compatibility in theory. The Jesuits also promoted experiments with and creative adaptations of European and Chinese funerary rituals. In the above passage quoted from Xifang dawen, Aleni especially refers to charity works accompanying a European funeral, e.g., offering food, drink, and money to the poor, in order to atone for sins of the deceased. His emphasis on this aspect sounds subtle, because the foodoffering rituals in a funerary ceremony are also practiced by Chinese people, except that the food is not to be given to the poor but rather to be consumed by the ones who offer it. Therefore, reinterpretations of the Western custom and modifications of the Chinese custom were necessary. In a letter to Fu’an converts around 1635 or 1636, Aleni writes that in Europe people likewise make offerings to their ancestors as a token of commemoration. The act corresponds to what 191

Standaert 2008, pp. 64-65.

192

Ibid., pp. 91-95.

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Confucius has said: “Serve the dead as if they were living, and serve the deceased as if they were present (shisi ru sheng, shiwang ru cun 事死如生, 事亡如 存).” For the same purpose of commemorating the deceased, he says: “It will be possible to continue doing such offerings to the ancestors, because it is not illicit and something that cannot be done. And having done all these offerings it will be better to give them to the poor.”193 From the letter, one notices Aleni’s effort to impose a new layer of meaning on the food-offering rituals in Europe and China, so as to reach an equation between Confucian filial piety and Catholic adoration of God for the benefit of the deceased. By showing his willingness to adapt to some Chinese funerary rituals, Aleni adopted a different stance than the recently arrived Dominicans and Franciscans in late Ming Fujian.194 The Jesuits following Aleni continued the policy of adaptation in the early Qing period. At the 1667/1668 Canton Conference, except for a few superstitious practices, the rules regarding Chinese funerals were largely formulated on the basis of native customs.195 Aleni’s tolerance and promotion of syncretic Christian–Confucian models in funeral and ancestral rituals can be observed in other aspects as well. For example, Kouduo richao records an occasion dated on April 18, 1637. A convert in Quanzhou had passed away and his son invited some converts to go to his home and recite the holy scriptures for the deceased. To this request, Aleni reminded the converts to “heed the Way rather than worldly customs,” because “even the slightest inability [on our part] to free ourselves from worldly [customs] will remove us far from the Way.” Though he does not specifically explain the “worldly customs,” Aleni makes it clear that the converts should not to move far away from “the Way,” that is, the Christian funeral rituals. After this reminder, he tells the stories of two Chinese converts who have experimented with a few novel actions in ancestral rituals, which he would recommend as good examples for adhering to both the Christian and the Confucian teachings: I have observed how in accordance with Chinese ritual after a parent’s decease a posthumous portrait and a wooden tablet are displayed, and that respectfully an offering is made of wine and food. I suppose that this is an expression of the son’s sincere intention to treat the deceased one “as if he were present.” However, it is essential that the “flavor of the way” and the feeling of filial piety be combined – nothing could be better than that. Lately there was a fellow believer here in your prefecture who, when one of his parents had departed from this world, realized that sacrificial animals and other offerings have nothing to do with the body and soul of the deceased one. He only had a Cross made, on the side of which the name of the deceased one was written; he placed it in front of the bier [carrying the coffin] and worshipped it. Every 193

Standaert 2008, p. 101.

194

For the contentions and negotiations on Chinese ancestral rituals among the Jesuits and the friars in Fujian in the late Ming and early Qing periods, see Menegon 2009, pp. 260-300.

195

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 160.

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seventh day he would treat his relatives to all kinds of food and delicacies, but he first would offer these, [standing] in front of the Lord, and recite the Scripture of Blessing the Food and Drinks (Jiangfu yinshi jing), praying for the Lord’s protection. Then he would pass [the food] on to the others, as a means to obtain happiness in the hereafter. In this way justice was done both to the sincere expression of filial piety towards the deceased one, and to the intention of the Way according to [our] religion. […] In Chu (= Hubei) a certain friend named Li has designed his own [posthumous] portrait, as follows. At the top the Holy Sign [of the Cross] is drawn, supported by “clouds of good luck.” It is flanked by a portrait of himself holding a rosary, wearing a Holy Casket (= an “Agnus Dei”), and turning towards the Cross. In addition he has stipulated in his testament that those of his sons and grandsons who are believers will be represented in this painting, according to the alternating order of zhao and mu. But, [he said,] “Those who are non-believers I do not consider to be my sons and grandsons, and they are not allowed to figure in this painting together with me.” By this arrangement he surely has complied with the Way as well as with popular customs, both being practised without any obstruction.196

The special arrangements in these two cases, as Aleni indicates, have been made by the converts on their own initiative. In his eyes, the examples point to a synthetic solution acceptable by both Chinese and Christian standards: the offerings of wine and food for commemoration rather than for worship, the Cross inscribed with the name of the deceased, the food-offering rituals featured by prayers on every seventh day, the Christian icons and objects in the ancestral portrait, and the names of Christian descendants in the traditional Chinese lineage order, all of them vividly show the fusion of ritualistic components from Chinese and Western traditions. Some of the components, in particular those related to food offerings, may be considered acceptable Chinese variants of what Aleni explains in Xifang dawen: Question: What are the ceremonies in sacrificing to the ancestors in your country? Answer: Ceremonies for the ancestors are very important in my native country. As for slaughtering animals for sacrifices, that was done in ancient times only in the Lord’s honor. Since the Lord’s reincarnation among men in this world, the sacrifice of the mass has been established, and animal sacrifices are no longer used. Whoever reveres his ancestors has masses said for them, praying to the Lord to protect their souls and grant them rest. This is of real benefit to the ancestors and increases their happiness in the other world. Their portraits are also painted and hung up in the house to serve as examples to their descendants, so that by looking at them these may be induced to imitate their ancestors’ virtues. Sometimes food and drink are placed on the ancestors’ graves;

196

KDRC, pp. 468-470; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 532-533.

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when the ceremony is over, the offerings are given to the church for distribution among the poor.197

If ancestors’ portraits and food offerings in Europe have been introduced by Aleni for adaptation to the Chinese ancestral rituals, the experiments among the converts are a further step of implementation in the Chinese context.198 The same can be said of the Cross tablet inscribed with the name of the deceased, which was a common practice in Chinese Catholic funerals during the early Qing period.199 In the previous chapters, we have seen the dialogic construction of a hybrid Christian–Confucian identity through different types of scientific, spiritual, and moral knowledge, while this chapter shows some intriguing examples in which a new, hybrid religious and cultural identity is being constructed in the ritualistic exchanges. Little wonder that at the end of these stories Aleni would proclaim that the Christian Way and Chinese customs could be followed side by side, “both being practiced without any obstruction.” In fact, the experimental adaptations promoted by Aleni and his fellow Jesuits in late Ming China carried another layer of subtle implications, that is, the antiBuddhist and anti-superstitious stance adopted by the Jesuits and Chinese converts which corresponded to the view of orthodox Confucian scholars. As to the geomantic practices for funerals and burials, the aforementioned conversations between Aleni and Chinese dialogists have demonstrated his strategy to assume a Confucian voice in criticizing geomancy as a superstition. This strategy can further be seen in his arguments in “Lun kanyu,” the appendix part of Xifang dawen, from the ritual perspective. In response to the concern that the Western custom of burying the deceased inside a city could be contemptuous of the ancestors and harmful to the descendants, Aleni argues: Choosing burial sites inside cities, and not placing graves in the fields and mountains, shows real love for one’s parents. We bury them near a church because we love them and want them to be near the Lord, and so our conscience is perfectly at ease, and we are in accordance with the rules of propriety. If it is said that bones of one’s deceased relatives should be buried temporarily until a clean site is found, free from water and ants, where the coffin is not ruined by moisture, well, this custom is not forbidden in the West; it should be according to one’s financial abilities to construct solid and elegant tombs, carve splendid tombstones, and make coffins of fragrant wood, lead, or stone. These things are also a sign of respect for one’s parents, and something a filial 197

Mish 1964, pp. 61-62. I quote the translation with a few modifications of mine.

198

Standaert 2008, pp. 99-102; Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, pp. 533-535.

199

A cross-shaped tablet was used at Candida Xu’s funeral in 1680. For its picture, see Xu Yunxi 1965, pp. 84-86. There were different shapes and designs for the funeral or ancestral tablets made during the early Qing period. Some were in a screen-shape, as described by Li Jiugong (see Zhengli chuyi [CCT ARSI], pp. 76, 108). Some others were in an archshape (see the picture in Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 47).

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son should do. But saying that success or failure, wealth or poverty, a long or short life for one’s descendants depend on the proper burial site, that is absolutely contrary to reason.200

Aleni does not reject the custom of finding a clean burial site for the deceased parents, which is a filial activity both in the West and in China, but he rejects the superstitious belief that grave-siting can decide the fortune of a family. If we carefully read his words, we will note remarkable similarities to Zhu Xi’s authoritative Jiali, in which he quotes Sima Guang’s views on finding burial sites for the deceased parents. Sima criticizes the vulgar geomantic practices of his time: However, the current custom is to place credence in the theories of burial specialists who select a year, month, day, and hour, and select a site by the configuration of mountains and waters. People believe that the wealth, rank, wisdom, and longevity of the descendants entirely depend on these choices. Yet those who practice these arts usually disagree; with their confusing arguments they can never settle on an answer. Sometimes it reaches the point where a lifetime or even several generations go by without the burial taking place. Or perhaps when the descendants get old and decline they may forget the location of the coffin and abandon it without burying it. If one really supposed that burial was able to affect human fortunes, how could those who are sons and grandsons bear to cause their parents to rot and suffer exposure so that they could seek profit for themselves? There are no perverse rituals that hurt moral principles more than these.201

A comparison of Sima Guang’s and Aleni’s words (including those in Kouduo richao) suggests that they correspond in two key concerns: First, the belief that choosing a proper burial site can affect the fortunes of a family; second, the delay of the burial ceremony due to the following of various geomantic theories.202 To both of them, these concerns are “perverse” and “contrary to reason.” Sima Guang does admit that one cannot avoid selecting a good spot for the deceased parents if led by the true feeling of filial piety, but he suggests that one simply look for a place with rich dirt and deep water level, which is suitable for burial and untainted by superfluous geomantic siting. Similarly, Aleni mentions the requirement to find a clean place “free from water and ants.” Sima Guang quotes Confucius’ words and suggests a family prepare funeral equipment according to what it has. A similar concern about one’s financial ability in operating a burial ceremony is also mentioned by Aleni. Given these similarities, Aleni might have referred to Confucian works, e.g., Zhu Xi’s Jiali, to highlight his criticisms of burials overburdened with geomantic prescriptions. His adaptation in a way echoes the efforts of late Ming Confucian scholars

200

Mish 1964, p. 80. I have made a few changes in the translation.

201

Jiali, p. 915. Here I use Patricia B. Ebrey’s translation. See Ebrey 1991, p. 103.

202

For analysis of Aleni’s arguments on these concerns, see Chapter 3.2.6.

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to rectify degrading social customs of their time and recover orthodox rituals from the ancient past.203 In Xifang dawen, Aleni employs the same argumentation in his rejection of the Chinese custom of burning paper money. To him, it is different from food offerings: Food and similar things are at least real and not counterfeit; they can be distributed to the poor in the ancestors’ name to spread their virtues and benevolence. The belief that false paper money and Buddhist rites will help the dead in the other world is an absurd lie invented by the bonzes to deceive the people. In your country famous Confucian scholars have clearly forbidden such usages and rites in family rituals. It is difficult to see why people believe in them, why they are sunk in superstition and will not awake from their folly.204

Though the Neo-Confucians during and after the Song Dynasty did not achieve a consensus on burning paper money at funerals, the majority of them, including Sima Guang and Zhu Xi, held a negative attitude at this kind of practice.205 Their rejection of Buddhist funeral rituals is also clearly stated in Zhu Xi’s Jiali, “Do not perform Buddhist services” (buzuo foshi 不做佛事).206 These anti-Buddhist and anti-superstitious criticisms again offered Aleni and other Jesuits a suitable template to make their own arguments from a Christian perspective. Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi is a remarkable example of adapting to classical Confucianism while attacking Neo-Confucian thought. Among the later Jesuits, and specifically in the case of Aleni, there appeared a more nuanced treatment of Neo-Confucianism: Its ontological ideas, such as li (principle) and taiji (Great Ultimate), had to be rejected, but its ritual authority could be used as a convenient tool either to attack idolatrous Buddhist and other native customs or to protect the Christians from criticisms for not following some popular practices, e.g., geomancy and the burning of paper money. In this sense, the adaptive efforts made by Aleni and other Jesuits in the late Ming time were not based on substantial similarities of European and Chinese funeral rituals (at least in the role of the priest), but on an assumption that missionaries and orthodox Confucians stood side by side to fight against the same enemies, i.e., Buddhism, Daoism, and other superstitions. Aleni’s anti-Buddhist and anti-superstitious strategy was not only reinforced by the Jesuits and Chinese converts of his time, it also left some enduring impact on the China mission in the early Qing period. Dias in Shengjing zhijie writes: There are both false and real rituals. The Sacred Teaching rejects the false and values the real. Wrapping the corpse, making up, encoffining, and burying, etc., these are all real rituals followed by the Sacred Teaching. As to the burn-

203

Zhang Xianqing 2002, pp. 132-134.

204

Mish 1964, pp. 63-64. I have made a few changes in the translation.

205

Ebrey 1991, p. 98, fn. 91.

206

Jiali, p. 905.

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ing of paper money, underworld currency, geomancy, selecting the auspicious days, etc., these are all false rituals rejected by the Sacred Teaching.207

In Duoshu, Han Lin writes: When parents die of old age, one should show the utmost sorrow and try his best to bury them with [proper] rites. He should not cremate the bodies by practicing the barbarian customs of the Qiang 羌 and Hu 胡. He should not invite monks and follow Buddhist teachings. He should not burn paper money and get misled by the devils. He should not be confused by geomancy and believe in the theories of specialists on burial. These points have been discussed in great detail by previous Confucians, and the worthies nowadays further develop their sincere arguments. People who understand the principles definitely would not take such [vulgar] rituals for granted.208

The aspects outlined in the above two works have been repeatedly stressed in other late Ming Christian works, and they were likewise copied by the Jesuits and Chinese converts who got involved in the Chinese Rites Controversy during the early Qing period.

5.5. Summary – A Visible and Practicable Salvation This final chapter presented the important visual aspects – objects, images, and rituals – in the dialogic formation of a hybrid Christian–Confucian identity in late Ming Fujian. From these exemplary cases we can see how word (spoken and written), image, and behavior went hand in hand in constructing this identity through a dialogic process filled with creative reinterpretations and active exchanges of diverse voices. The marvelous Christian objects presented by Aleni and his confreres, especially the Holy Cross, filled the Chinese viewers with visual pleasure and amazement. The converts were meanwhile exposed to the spiritual implication of the Holy Cross and other sacred objects, explained by the Jesuit masters with stories of miraculous healings and exorcisms according to the Christian hierolatrous tradition. As we see in Kouduo richao, Fujian converts in the 1630s attempted to incorporate the sacred objects into daily religious experience, often by means of telling their own miraculous stories in competition with Buddhist and Daoist narratives of the same type. As for the non-religious objects, including the clavichord and the glass mirror, they were shown and explained by the Jesuits in a way that their original scientific values were associated with a new layer of moralistic or religious meanings. On the other hand, the Chinese viewers responded to these foreign objects with their own interpretations, among which we can identify a strong taste of exoticism. In this respect, both parties actively involved themselves in a process of mutual appropriation. As for the edifying paintings and print illustrations, Rudomina by presenting three sets of emblematic pictures adopted a remarkable pattern of preaching that 207

Shengjing zhijie (WXSB), p. 2048.

208

Duoshu (CCT ZKW ), pp. 648-649.

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combines the verbal and the visual. The convert audience, in particular Li Jiubiao, appeared to be much impressed both by the vivid pictorial representations and their allegorical meanings. Li’s reflections indicated a positive digestion of Christian spiritual perfection, which meanwhile was intentionally imposed on a Confucian way of moral cultivation. As to the illustrated work on the life of Jesus Christ, Aleni’s reproductions may serve as a good example for the dialogic visualization of a Christian other. He not only transformed the images of Jesus in Nadal’s original work into typical Chinese thematic and stylistic representations, but he also endeavoured to retain a hybrid pattern in connection with his instructions to Chinese converts in Fujian in these printed illustrations. Christian and Chinese elements thus could coexist in a reconstructed composite visual representation. The illustrations further helped Chinese converts to meditate on universal salvation. In addition to objects and images, rituals became another important channel for Aleni, his confreres, and the Fujian converts to form their Christian– Confucian identity in a dialogic setting. Largely due to the fast expansion of Fujian Catholic communities, Aleni made noticeable efforts to publish several pioneering works on the major Catholic sacraments, especially confession and the Holy Mass. These prescriptive texts were intended for enforcing of a liturgical procedure that consisted of varied objects, icons, symbolic movements, and routinized gestures. Although Aleni and his confreres firmly insisted on both clerical authority and ritual orthodoxy of the Catholic Church, they would at times take expediential measures to respond to the realistic concerns and difficulties in their mission. On the other hand, late Ming Chinese developed different views on the established Catholic liturgical tradition. While the anti-Christian scholars were disdainful and suspicious about the barbarian rituals, Chinese converts have tried different ways to make sense of the unfamiliar otherness in those sacramental performances, for example, to link them with some ancient Chinese worship models. The embedding of Catholic liturgies in China may therefore be characterized by a set of two-way appropriations that led to the shaping of a mixed ritual system in Fujian Catholic communities in the late Ming period. Lastly, the subtle self–other interplay towards a Christian–Confucian ritual life was also noticeably reflected in the Jesuits’ adaptive introduction of Western marriage and funeral rituals, often in comparison with China, and the converts’ experimental efforts to find some variants agreeable to both Christian and Chinese standards. Aleni and his confreres took an uncompromising stance on Chinese concubinage, but in putting forth their arguments they strategically appropriated one orthodox Confucian voice to criticize concubinage as a devious custom and further claim to recover the true essence of filial piety from classical Confucian teachings. As far as funeral and ancestral rituals are concerned, the Jesuits and the converts also collaborated in promoting some experimental, hybrid adaptations of European and Chinese traditions. The distinct characteristic of boundary-crossing was manifested in their interreligious and intercultural negotiations on the rituals of food offerings and ancestral portraits. Moreover, they selectively incorporated some orthodox views from both classical Confucianism and

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Neo-Confucianism into their anti-Buddhist and anti-superstitious arguments, thereby achieving a further development of Christian–Confucian dialogism toward the end of the Ming Dynasty.

CONCLUSION In his 1995 article “From Jesuit Studies to Western Learning,” Zürcher argues that the unique value of historical research on Christianity in China during the 17th and the 18th centuries “lies in the fact that it probably is the best documented case of intercultural contact in pre-modern Chinese history (and probably in pre-modern world history).” 1 A decade later, in his monumental study on Kouduo richao, he expresses a similar point: “Chinese Christianity is more richly documented than any other minority religion of late imperial China.”2 The broad coverage of documentation, both in Chinese and in Western languages, motivated him and other scholars to conduct extensive studies from diverse interdisciplinary approaches. Indeed, this rich documentation has enabled this detailed study of the remarkable ascendance of dialogue in late Ming Christian literature. Among about 300 Chinese Christian texts produced in this period, at least 50 of them are embedded with certain forms of dialogue, in varying quantities. 3 These dialogic texts are substantial enough to explore what I would call “17th-century ChristianConfucian dialogism.” The development of this phenomenon is revealed in this book by means of a comprehensive study on the exemplary Christian dialogic works, especially Kouduo richao. These works as a group manifest the dialogic formation of a hybrid Confucian-Christian identity among the Jesuits and Chinese converts during the first half of the 17th century.

Does Form Really Matter? The eight-volume work Kouduo richao is unique in containing a tremendous amount of information on Chinese Catholic communities under the Jesuit ministry in late Ming Fujian. As Zürcher points out: Among the dozens of texts by late Ming and early Qing converts it stands out as the only source that allows us a glimpse of Jesuit missionary practice – “accommodation in action” – and of the various responses of their Chinese audience, both converts and interested outsiders. It also shows us the working of the underlying processes of selection, adaptation and integration by which, in the milieu of local Confucian elites, the foreign creed was transformed into a marginal Chinese minority religion.4

In other words, Kouduo richao puts on the stage a lively reenactment of dynamic exchanges among the Jesuit masters and Fujian converts. The Jesuits consciously assumed the double identity of Catholic priest (saze’erduode 撒責爾鐸德) and 1

Zürcher 1995a, pp. 276-277.

2

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 11.

3

The total number of around 300 comes from a search on the CCT-Database for the period 1580–1644, excluding duplicates of the same work and writings by anti-Christian Buddhists and Confucians.

4

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 7.

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Confucian teacher/master (xiansheng 先生). Those participating in conversations with the Jesuits included not only converts but also non-believers from different social classes and professions, such as educational instructors, retired officials, students taking the civil service examinations, military commanders, physicians, as well as Buddhist and Daoist believers. When involving themselves in a dialogical situation, they made varied responses to the Christian other and expressed their own voices. They also used personal connections and scholarly publications to build networks, by which Christianity could take root in Fujian and become part of the growing Catholic enterprise in late Ming China. Though scholars have paid attention to Kouduo richao in various topical studies, few have raised serious questions about its dialogue format and underlying logic. Zürcher lists dialogues as one type of entry in addition to stories and homilies, but he does not discuss any dialogic devices, such as the self–other prototype, the master-disciple relation, the question-and-answer pattern, the time– space frame, or rhetorical reasoning, which feature distinctively throughout Kouduo richao. In his eyes, the form is “unsatisfactory” in terms of its mosaic nature, fraction, and selectiveness, which casts doubt on whether it is a faithful rendering of Aleni’s homilies.5 These negative comments are surely too arbitrary, though. From a generic perspective, what seem at first “limitations” might alternatively be treated as the indispensable characteristics of a dialogic work. I would refer to the Lunyu for a counterargument. This exemplary work of Classical Confucianism records the conversations between Confucius and his disciples, but it looks more mosaic, fractional, and selective in comparison with Kouduo richao. If we have no doubt at its authenticity in rendering Confucius’ words, and if we appreciate its use of dialogue as an effective medium for Confucian knowledge transmission, why should we dismiss the same two aspects more solidly embedded in the text of Kouduo richao? It is true that the work reflects only a small part of Aleni’s missionary efforts in Fujian, as Li Jiubiao admits in the “statement of editorial principles” that there were practical difficulties to record all instructions of Aleni and the other Jesuit masters. Despite the visible gaps between dates, the fragmented episodes and jottings may still be patched together to reconstruct an overall picture of the dialogic Confucian–Christian learning in Fujian during the 1630s. The examples discussed in this book show that the dialogue form does matter in considering the collective efforts of the Jesuits and Chinese converts in their construction of a hybrid Christian-Confucian identity in late Ming Fujian. The inadequacy of research on this aspect largely reflects the lack of sufficient understanding of the dialogic components embedded in Kouduo richao and dozens of other works produced during this period. In fact, the tendency to use the dialogue form is visible among all major categories of Christian documents – intellectual discussions, doctrinal catechisms, apologetic debates, and even systematically written treatises. In the prescriptive texts Huizui yaozhi and Shengti yaoli, for 5

Zürcher 1997b, p. 598; id. 2007, vol. 1, pp. 11-14.

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example, Aleni would often insert impromptu question-and-answer passages to address certain practical concerns about the essential liturgies raised by the Chinese converts. Some scientific treatises, including Ricci’s Qiankun tiyi and Vagnone’s Kongji gezhi, also contain questions and answers regarding the Four Elements, the spherical shape of the earth, various astronomical and meteorological phenomena. In this sense, the phenomenal rise of Christian dialogism during the heyday of the Jesuits’ mission deserves more in-depth studies and theoretical reflections. My analyses in the previous chapters have shown both technical and strategic reasons for this phenomenal rise: on the technical level, dialogue serves as a simple and yet flexible medium for different types of knowledge transmission. On the strategic level, dialogue embodies a subtle self–other relation in which the Jesuits and Chinese converts play different roles and express their individual as well as collective voices. Their exchanges may be theoretically analyzed with terms such as confrontation, adaptation or accommodation, inculturation, and localization, etc., but we certainly cannot miss the fundamental principle of dialogism that underpins all these terms.

From Dialogue to the Dialogic In the past several decades, studies on the late Ming Sino–Western encounter have shifted from the early one-sided approaches of transmission and reception to some more comprehensive approaches, in terms of cross-cultural conflicts and confluences. However, the newly developed “communication–interaction” and “dialogue” frameworks are still largely topical, focusing on selection, comparison, and analysis of representative thoughts and practices. They do not devote sufficient attention to the manner in which thoughts and practices are formally structured and restructured, by which individual agents and groups, and with which kinds of consciously adopted voices and identities. The main body of this book consists of a theme-based analysis of Kouduo richao and other Christian texts as well, but it addresses two fundamental formbased concerns throughout: Why is dialogue employed and how does it work? The first concern is macroscopic and involves a series of interrelated contextual factors that lead to late Ming Christian dialogism. Among these factors, we note the established traditions of dialogue in China and Europe, the Catholic CounterReformation movement, the Jesuits and their missionary strategies in China, the decline of Ming state power and at the same time striking achievements in economic and cultural domains, including commercialization, booming print industry, intellectual freedom, as well as religious synthesis. The second concern focuses on a microscopic exploration of the internal mechanisms of dialogue, itself being a hybrid genre and a medium of thought. From the examples discussed in this book, we are well informed of the major formal devices, including the self–other prototype, question-and-answer pattern, time–space, and superposition of voices, that have been effectively adopted by the authors of Kouduo richao and many other Christian dialogic texts. When

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putting these external and internal factors together, we can see a set of shifts from individual voices to collective voices, from interpersonal negotiations to intercultural exchanges, and from literal meanings to ideological implications. They constitute an intriguing projection in which dialogue transforms itself into a dialogic hybridization. Through the approach of dialogic hybridization, my study can facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the late Ming Sino–Western cultural encounter. It emphasizes the self–other dialogic relation which differs from the missiological-based or China-centred approaches, and it substantiates the more recent approaches of “adaptation,” “interaction and communication,” and “dialogue” with a solid exploration of the unique text Kouduo richao and other Christian dialogic writings in late Ming Christian literature. For one thing, these works reveal the gradual ascendance of the Christian other from an inferior “monk” (seng) to a superior “master” (xiansheng). Though the transformed identity was a direct result of the Jesuits’ adaptation strategy, it further complicated the paradoxical self–other relation and merged into the dialogic exchanges among the Jesuits and Chinese converts. Moreover, the present comprehensive study on the unique work Kouduo richao shows how textual and visual sources support each other to recover the dialogic formation of a Christian–Confucian identity in late Ming Fujian. The identity construction consists of not only verbal exchanges but also representation and reception of objects, pictures, and rituals. As Standaert has suggested, the interweaving of these factors may be figuratively compared to the weaving of threads and fibers into a “textile.” 6 The closer we examine the joints of these crossing lines, the more we find in them a wide variety of intermixtures, or hybrids. In this sense, the approach of dialogic hybridization provides a more holistic and substantial methodology for us to explore the 17th-century contact between China and the West.

Giulio Aleni: “Pastoral Choice” or Expanding Dialogism? In recent studies on Giulio Aleni and his Fujian mission, some leading scholars upheld the opinion that Aleni made a noticeable shift in missionary method from an intellectual approach to a pastoral approach after he entered Fujian, especially after 1629. Criveller would call the shift a “pastoral choice,” and he later adopted the more specific term “Christological shift” taking into account the prominence of Christological topics in Aleni’s literary productions.7 He further suggested a clear division: The first 12 years between 1613 and 1624 “were focused on natural revelation (philosophy, science, moral issues),” while the next 25 years from 1625 to 1649 were “devoted to the presentation of positive revelation of ‘dogmatic Christology.’” 8 Based upon comparative analysis of Aleni’s 6

Standaert 2002, pp. 45-46.

7

Criveller 1997, pp. 428-429; Criveller 2003, pp. 442-443.

8

Criveller 2003, p. 443.

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1624–1629 works and those published after 1629, Dudink suggested a similar shift in terms of content and targeted readership: from general Western science and philosophy to specific Christian themes, and from the high officials and elite to the lower echelon of literati.9 Zürcher shared the above opinions of Criveller and Dudink, and he further suggested Aleni’s “shift to the south,” namely, his change from a “resident scholar from the West staying in Fuzhou” to an “itinerant missionary” travelling across the southern prefectures during the 1630s. Therefore, 1629 became the turning point of Aleni’s missionary work according to Kouduo richao: “He changed his target group, and concentrated on the lower fringe of the educated elite – the humble bachelors, school teachers, and clerks who constitute his audience.”10 Though the above scholars raised persuasive arguments for a “pastoral choice” theory, I would counter-argue for a different opinion of expanding dialogism based upon the approach of dialogic hybridization. Aleni’s mission in Fujian was not the “shift” from science to religion and from the high elite to the lowerclass peoples, but a natural expansion of his continuous efforts to introduce Tianxue and further implement the Jesuits’ top-down missionary strategy. The socalled “shift” was by and large an inaccurate construction of modern historians. Aleni never suggested a distinction of the elite and the non-elite in his works and missionary activities, and his contacts with those from the lower classes could be seen as the unavoidable result of his consistent efforts to expand the Fujian Catholic communities. Nor did Aleni abandon the top-down mission strategy established by the early Jesuits. The examples for his connections with the upperclass Chinese after 1629 included Jiang Dejing’s writing of a preface to his Xifang dawen in 1637, his scholarly conversations with Zhu Jizuo in 1638, and his acceptance of the imperial patronage from Longwu of the Southern Ming regime. Dudink and Zürcher rightly pointed out the fact that the editors and compilers of Kouduo richao mostly came from the lower fringe of the educated elite, who were less prominent and did not have an official position or well-to-do social standing. Nonetheless, these two scholars somehow neglected two subtle implications. First, Aleni’s “shift” of attention to the Confucian scholars at the middle and lower levels can only be taken as a valid observation when being compared with his earlier social contacts with the high officials and elite scholars of national fame, such as Yang Tingyun and Ye Xianggao. Obviously, those scholarconverts who compiled Kouduo richao or figured in it were from prefecture and city levels, but they still may be considered “elite” in the local context. The Li brothers, Zhang Geng, and Li Yijun were good examples in this regard. From the perspective of regional history, it is reasonable to argue that Aleni still adhered to the top-down strategy in his Fujian mission. Second, we should pay attention to the purpose of those scholar-converts in compiling the eight-volume text of Kouduo richao. They consciously imitated the exemplary dialogic works 9

Dudink 1997, pp. 129-149.

10

Zürcher 2007, vol. 1, p. 62.

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in the Confucian tradition, from the Lunyu to the master–disciple type of learning among Song–Ming Neo-Confucian elite. Despite their marginal and inferior role, their efforts to record scholarly exchanges with the Jesuit masters indicated a reverse tendency from the lower level to the upper level. In other words, the Confucian–Christian dialogue pattern adopted by these relatively obscure figures became an alternative way to empower themselves and raise their own status. Given these implications, the arguments for a simple downward “shift” in Aleni’s mission should be reconsidered. If we compare Kouduo richao with Aleni’s earlier work Sanshan lunxue ji, we can notice a very similar entanglement of intellectuality and religiosity structured in a dialogical situation. The major topics discussed among Aleni, Ye Xianggao, and Cao Xuequan in Sanshan lunxue ji include the creation of the universe by the Lord of Heaven, the Confucian concepts taiji, li, and qi, human nature, body and soul, the incarnation of the Lord of Heaven, and the false teachings in Buddhism, etc. The same topics are found in the conversations between Aleni and his convert disciples in Kouduo richao as well. In both works, Aleni strives to promote a syncretic Tianxue which integrates the Catholic doctrine with the Confucian teaching. He aims at a goal as stated in his Xixue fan, i.e., to harmonize the teachings of the sages/saints from both the Eastern Sea and the Western Sea. He carefully keeps his double identity as a Catholic priest and a Confucian master when engaging in discussions with converts and non-Christian scholars. This explains why Aleni published both religious works and works for a general readership during the 1630s. The religious works include the trilogy on Christ (Tianzhu jiangsheng yinyi in 1634, Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe in 1635, and Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie in 1637), Shengmeng ge in 1637, and Shengmu meigui jing shiwu duan tuxiang in 1637, while the works for general readership include Chinese biographies of Matteo Ricci and Yang Tingyun in 1630 and 1635, Jihe yaofa in 1631, Xifang dawen in 1637, and Xichao chongzhengji in 1639. With regard to these works, it would be awkward to assume that Aleni took the intellectual line before 1629 but shifted to the pastoral line in the 1630s. There was not a clear-cut division of different stages in his Fujian mission. One might also question Zürcher’s assertion that Aleni’s religious instructions to Fujian converts in the late 1630s were carried out in an “authentic,” purist, and “much less hybridized, or ‘Confucianized’” pattern.11 As seen in many examples in this book, the Ignatian model of spiritual training that Aleni promoted among Fujian converts reflected a mixed Christian–Confucian character. By engaging in scholarly conversations at interpersonal and intercultural levels, Aleni and the converts formed a composite assemblage of ideas, images, and experiences in the exchange between the established Christian and Confucian traditions, thereby staging a complex process of dialogic hybridization.

11

Zürcher 1997b, pp. 614-615.

CONCLUSION

339

Kouduo richao: Christian–Confucian Dialogic Learning In these reflections on late Ming Christian dialogism and Aleni’s mission, it is necessary to focus once more on the unique text of Kouduo richao to see how the projection from dialogue to a dialogic hybridization was carried out by Aleni and the Fujian converts in the 1630s. In terms of practical learning, both the Jesuit masters and the converts, particularly Li Jiubiao, tackled in a strategic manner the scientific parts of the Tianxue, for which they employed the reinterpreted Confucian term of gewu qiongli. Aleni’s instructions on Western scientific knowledge were a highly selective choice from the medieval Aristotelian–Thomist tradition, and at the same time remarkably adaptive to the late Ming context, especially the Confucian teachings. It was a continuation and further improvement of the adaptation strategy promoted by Ricci and other early Jesuits in China. On the other hand, Li Jiubiao’s creative reinterpretations of the Jesuits’ practical learning reflected similar syncretic attempts to construct a ConfucianChristian identity. As to the spiritual and moral learning, we see its dominant role in the dialogic exchanges between the Jesuits and the Fujian converts. In his introduction of a universal hierarchy between heaven and hell, Aleni frequently compared it to the familiar imperial system in China. The Lord of Heaven had the supreme authority and power over man, like a ruler to his subjects, though the resemblance did not lead to equality between the divine and the secular. The Virgin Mary was considered the mediatrix between the Lord of Heaven and man in the universal hierarchy. Aleni and Chinese converts frequently discussed topics such as Mary’s compassion and love, power of protection and healing, and exemplary virtues. Their dialogic exchanges facilitated the rise of early Chinese Marian devotion in competition with the idolatrous worships to Guanyin and other native goddesses. In addition, Aleni took pains to find a balance between Confucian and Catholic teachings on the body–soul duality and human nature. Both subjects received great attention in medieval theology and the Confucian intellectual tradition. On the one hand, Aleni developed arguments based on Thomist theological propositions, but he put aside Aquina’s scholastic reasoning and employed concrete examples instead to increase comprehensibility for the Chinese audience. His transmission of Aquinas’ thought was selective, as we can see in his emphasis on a dichotomy between body and soul rather than Aquina’s argument on a separable but mutually attractive body–soul relation. On the other hand, being aware of the different views on human nature within Confucianism, Aleni expressed his distinctive opinion of “overcoming one’s nature” to counter-argue the Confucian saying of “following one’s nature.” But he still subtly pointed out the original good nature and the possibility for man to change from evil to good, by way of self-cultivation both in a Christian sense and in a Confucian sense. The overcoming of the seven capital sins thus became comparable to Confucius’ authoritative instruction on “the overcoming of the self.” Aleni and the converts in Fujian further employed a threefold method – filial piety to God, love to people, and austerity to the self – to construct their syn-

340

CONCLUSION

cretic spiritual and moral learning. Filial piety to the Lord of Heaven, or the Great Father–Mother, was understood through worldly filial piety to birth parents, though once again the authority of the former was superior to that of the latter. The instructions on benevolent works were likewise reinterpreted in different ways so as to fit in the socio-economical context in late Ming Fujian. Another noticeable aspect of the expanding Fujian mission lay in the internalized process of spiritual perfection, for which Aleni introduced the medieval concept of the Three Ways along with the Ignatian spiritual exercises. By reinterpreting a number of cases from church history, Aleni instructed the converts on how to overcome sinful thoughts, including pride, greed, and lust. The discussion on the capital sin of lust, for example, showed a vivid example of how Aleni and his convert disciples superposed the Confucian notion of propriety onto the Christian devotion to the Lord of Heaven. In search for a syncretic spiritual and moral learning, Aleni also made efforts to remove a group of heretic religions and superstitious beliefs, including Buddhism, Daoism, divination, and geomancy. The role of a spiritual crusader reinforced the anti-Buddhist stance of the other Jesuits in their apologetic works. Such a collective promotion of the new Confucian–Christian alliance to replace the ongoing Confucian–Buddhist–Daoist syncretic trends is visible in many discussions recorded in Kouduo richao. The final, but equally important, aspect of a Confucian–Christian life in late Ming Fujian consisted of the various mutually appropriated objects, pictures, and rituals. The religious objects not only brought visual pleasure and amazement to the Chinese audience, but they also exposed spiritual implications and miraculous power. The process of mutual appropriation was also found in the representation and reception of non-religious objects, such as the clavichord and the glass mirror. While the Jesuit masters shifted away from scientific concerns and turned the marvelous objects into a tool for didactic teaching, the Chinese viewers would rather appreciate them with a certain exotic taste. As a special category of Western objects, Christian paintings and illustrations played an important role in the dialogic exchanges between the Jesuits and Chinese converts in Fujian. When presenting the emblematic images Rudomina skillfully incorporated pictorial symbolism into verbal exchanges with his convert audience, who interpreted Christian spiritual perfection from the perspective of Confucian moral cultivation. Aleni’s illustrated work on Jesus Christ, the incarnated Lord of Heaven, provided another example on the visualization of a universal salvation. In it, Aleni not only fused Christian and Chinese elements in stylistic terms, but he also integrated Chinese figures in his illustrations to suggest a sharable religio-cultural identity. The dialogic construction of the Christian-Confucian identity was also realized in Aleni’s exchanges with the converts on the essential Catholic sacraments (e.g., baptism, confession, and the mass) as well as marriage and funeral rituals from Chinese and European traditions. Aleni in his prescriptive liturgical works introduced the standard procedures consisting of various objects, icons, and symbolic movements and gestures. However, at times he also adopted expedient ap-

CONCLUSION

341

proaches to solve practical concerns and difficulties, as shown both in the impromptu dialogues in his liturgical works and in the real dialogues in Kouduo richao. We can also find a subtle self–other interplay in the Jesuits’ adaptive introductions and the converts’ appropriations of Christian and Chinese marriage and funeral rituals. Certain compromises (e.g., food offering, kowtow, and Christian icons in the ancestral portrait) were discussed and experimented to superpose Catholic spiritual beliefs onto Confucian moral values. Meanwhile, concubinage, geomantic siting, and other superstitious rituals and customs became the target of criticisms under the assumption that the Jesuits and the Confucians (converts or non-converts alike) joined hands in fighting their common enemies. The flourishing Christian–Confucian dialogic learning in late Ming Fujian, as we may conclude, unfolded in a dynamic and multi-layered process, in which ideas, words, objects, images, and rituals interweaved to shape a new hybrid religiocultural identity.

Appendices Appendix I: Chinese Christian Texts in Dialogue Forms (1580–1650) No. Years

Chinese Titles

Authors

Facsimile Editions (Archives)

Major Dialogue Forms Used

1

1584/ Xinbian Xizhuguo 1640 Tianzhu shilu (repr.) 新編西竺國天主 實錄

Michele CCT ARSI, Ruggieri (Luo vol. 1 Mingjian 羅明堅, 1543– 1607)

huowen 或問 (someone asks) or huoyue 或曰 (someone says) by an inquiring scholar; and dayue 答曰 (answer) by a seng 僧 (monk, i.e., Ruggieri) from India, i.e., from the West

2

1592

Bian zhengjiao zhenchuan shilu 辨正教真傳實錄 (Variant title as Wuji Tianzhu zhengjiao zhenchuan shilu 無極天主正教真 傳實錄)

Juan Cobo O.P. (Gao Muxian 呣𠿢, 1546–1592)

UST Press, Manila, 1986

yue 曰 or wen 問 by a Daming xuezhe 大明學者 (Scholar from the Great Ming); and yue 曰 or da 答 by a sengshi 僧師 (monk master, i.e., Cobo)

3

1603

Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義

Matteo Ricci (Li Madou 利瑪竇, 1552– 1610)

* TXCH, vol. 1 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 30

yue 曰 by a Zhongshi 中士 (Chinese scholar); and yue 曰 by a Xishi 西士 (Western scholar, i.e., Ricci)

4

ca. 1606

Tianzhu João Soeiro shengjiao yueyan (Su Ruwang 天主聖教約言 蘇如望, 1566– 1607)

* CCT ARSI, vol. 2 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 24, 37

huowen 或問 (someone asks) or huoyue 或曰 (someone says); and yu dazhi yue 予答 之曰 or yu yue 予曰 (I answer)

5

1605– Tianzhu shiyi 1615 xupian 天主實義續篇

Diego de Pantoja (Pang Diwo 龐廸我, 1571–1618)

* WXSB, vol. 1 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 31

huoyue 或曰 (someone says), huowen 或問 (someone asks); and yue 曰 (answer)

6

ca. 1610

Pangzi yiquan 龐子遺詮

Diego de Pantoja

* CCT ARSI, wen 問 (question); and yue 曰 vol. 2 (answer) * CCT BAV (1), vol. 21

7

1608

Jiren shipian 畸人十篇

Matteo Ricci

* TXCH, vol. 1 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 25

Long conversations between yu 余 (I, i.e., Ricci) and ten Chinese scholars and officials

344

APPENDICES

No. Years

Chinese Titles

Authors

Facsimile Editions (Archives)

Major Dialogue Forms Used

8

ca. 1608

Qiankun tiyi 乾坤體義

Matteo Ricci

SKQS, vol. 787

huowen yu yue 或問余曰 (someone asks me) and yu da zhi yue 余答之曰 (I answer him)

9

1612

Taixi shuifa 泰西水法

Sabatino de TXCH, vol. Ursis (Xiong 3 Sanba 熊三拔, 1575–1620)

huowen 或問 (someone asks) and yue 曰 (answer) in chapter 5 “Shuifa huowen” 水法 或問 (Questions Asked on Hydraulic Methods )

10

1614

Qike 七克

Diego de Pantoja

* TXCH, vol. 2 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 6, 7

huowen 或問 (someone asks) or huoyue 或曰 (someone says), and yuyue 余曰 (I answer) in the part of “Hunqu zhengyi” 婚娶正議

11

1614

Tong wen suanzhi 同文算指

Matteo Ricci

TXCH, vol. 5

wen 問 (question); and dayue 答曰 or yue 曰 (answer) in the part of “Tongwen” 通問 (General Questions)

12

1615

Tianwen lüe 天問略

Manuel Diaz Jr. (Yang Manuo 陽瑪諾, 1574–1659)

* TXCH, vol. 5 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 34

wen 問 or wenyue 問曰 (question); and yue 曰 (answer)

13

1616? Shengshui jiyan 聖水紀言

14

1619

Tianzhu João da Rocha CCT ARSI, shengjiao qimeng (Luo Ruwang vol. 1 天主聖教啟蒙 羅儒望, 1565– 1623)

15

1621

Daiyi pian 代疑篇

16

ca. 1622

Xiaoluan bu bing Yang Tingyun ming shuo 鴞鸞不並鳴說

Yang Tingyun * CCT ARSI, 楊廷筠 (1562– vol. 8 * CCT BAV 1627) (1), vol. 23

Yang Tingyun

* WX * CCT BAV (1), vol. 23

Dialogues between Duowen zi 多聞子 (a Confucian scholar surnamed Yuan 袁) and Wuzhi zi 無知子 (Yangzi 楊 子, i.e., Yang Tingyun) Catechetical questions and answers between shi 師 (master) and xue 學(student) wen 問 (question) by a Daru 大儒 (renowned scholar); and yue 曰 or dayue 答曰 (answer) by Mige jushi 彌格居 士 (Mr. Michael, i.e., Yang Tingyun)

* WXXB, huowen 或問 (someone asks); vol. 1 and jushi yue 居士曰 (Mr. * CCT ZKW, Yang answers) vo. 4

APPENDICES No. Years

Chinese Titles

Authors

345

Facsimile Editions (Archives)

Major Dialogue Forms Used

Matteo Ricci

* TXCH, vol. 2 * CCT BAV (1) , vol. 37

Aplogectic letters between Li xiansheng 利先生 (i.e., Ricci) and Yu Quanbu 虞銓 部 (i.e., Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙) and Lianchi da heshang 蓮池 大和尚 (i.e., Zhu Hong 袾宏)

17

ca. 1624

18

1624/ Xingxue cushu 1646 (Xingling pian) 性學觕述（性靈 篇）

Giulio Aleni (Ai Rulüe 艾 儒略, 1582– 1649)

* CCT ARSI, vol. 6 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 28, 29

huoyue 或曰 (someone says), huoyiyue 或疑曰 (someone asks), huonanyue 或難曰 (someone challenges), or wenyue 問曰 (question); and yue 曰 (answer)

19

1625/ Xiru ermu zi 1626 西儒耳目資

Nicolas Trigault (Jin Nige 金尼閣, 1577–1628)

1933/1957 SKQS/Xu xiu SKQS editions

Zhongshi wenyue 中士問曰 (Chinese scholar asks); and Xiru dayue 西儒答曰 (Western scholar answers), in the part “Wenda” 問答 (Questions and Answers) in volume 1

20

1625

Ceshi lüe 測食略

Johann Adam CCT BnF, Schall von Bell vol. 5 (Tang Ruowang 湯若望, 1592–1666)

wen 問 (question); and yue 曰 (answer)

21

1626

Dizhen jie 地震解

Nicolò Longo- CCT BnF, bardo (Long vol. 5 Huamin 龍華 民, 1565– 1655)

huowen 或問 (someone asks); and yue 曰 (answer)

22

1627

Dizui zhenggui 滌罪正規

Giulio Aleni

* CCT ARSI, vol. 4 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 40

huoyue 或曰 or huoyun 或云 (someone says), huowen 或問 (someone asks), or wenyue 問曰(question); and dayue 答 曰 or yue 曰 (answer)

23

1627

Huizui yaozhi 悔罪要旨

Giulio Aleni

* CCT BnF, huowen 或問 (someone asks), vol. 18 wenyue 問曰 or yue 曰 (ques* CCT BAV tion); dayue 答曰 (answer) (1), vol. 32

24

1628

Wanwu zhenyuan Giulio Aleni 萬物真原

Bianxue yidu 辯學遺牘

* CCT ZKW, vol. 1 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 4

huowen 或問 or huoyue 或曰 (someone asks); and yue 曰 (answer) or yuyue 余曰 (I answer)

346

APPENDICES

No. Years

Chinese Titles

Authors

Facsimile Editions (Archives)

Major Dialogue Forms Used

25

1629

Sanshan lunxue ji Giulio Aleni 三山論學紀

* WXXB, vol. 1 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 14

Long conversations between yu 余 (I, i.e., Aleni),Ye xiangguo 葉相國 (i.e. Ye Xianggao 葉向高) and Cao guancha 曹觀察 (i.e., Cao Xuequan 曹學佺)

26

1629

Misa jiyi 彌撒祭義

Giulio Aleni

* CCT BnF, vol. 16 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 32

Questions and answers between ke 客 and yu 余 in the preface

27

1629

Shuihua erda 睡畫二答

Francesco Sambiasi (Bi Fangji 畢方濟, 1582–1649)

* CCT ZKW, vol. 1 * CCT ARSI, vol. 6 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 34

Zhongshi wen 中士問 (the Chinese scholar asks); and Xi xiansheng yue 西先生曰 (the Western master answers)

28

ca. 1629

Qiu shuo 求說

Giacomo Rho (Luo Yagu 羅 雅谷, 1592– 1638)

* CCT BnF, vol. 21 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 14

huowen 或問 (someone asks) or wen 問(question); and yue 曰 or dazhiyue 答之曰 (answer)

29

ca. 1630

Zesheng shipian 則聖十篇

Alfonso Vagnone (Gao Yizhi 高一志, 1568–1640)

CCT BnF, vol. 4

ke wen 客問 or ke yue 客曰 (a guest says); and yu yue 余 曰 (I answer)

30

1632

Lixue guyan 勵學古言

Alfonso Vagnone

* CCT BnF, vol. 4 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 29

Selected dialogues of Western philosophers and theologians on education

31

ca. 1633

Kongji gezhi 空際格致

Alfonso Vagnone

WXSB, vol. 2

huoyue 或曰 (someone says), huowen 或問 or 中士曰 (the Chinese scholars says); and yue 曰 (answer) or 余曰 (I answer)

32

1633

Aijin xingquan 哀矜行詮

Giacomo Rho

* CCT ARSI, huoyue 或曰 (someone says), vol. 5 huowen 或問; and yue 曰 * CCT BAV (answer) (1), vol. 26

33

1634

Zhaike 齋克

Giacomo Rho

CCT BnF, vol. 19

Selected proverbs of Christian saints, with some artificial questions (huowen 或問 or hewei 何謂) and yue 曰 (answer)

APPENDICES No. Years

Facsimile Editions (Archives)

347

Chinese Titles

Authors

Major Dialogue Forms Used

34

1634/ Tianzhu 1635 jiangsheng yinyi 天主降生引義

Giulio Aleni

CCT BAV (1), vol. 4

huo wenyue 或問曰, huowen 或問, huoyue 或曰 (someone asks) or wenyue 問曰 (question); and yue 曰 or dayue 答 曰 (answer)

35

1635

Daiyi xupian 代疑續篇

Yang Tingyun

CCT BnF, vol. 6

huowen 或問 (someone asks), huoyue 或曰 (someone says), or wen 問 (question); and yue 曰 (answer)

36

1636

Zhuzhi qunzheng 主制群徵

Johann Adam * WXXB, Schall von Bell vol. 2 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 31

huoyue 或曰 (someone says), huowen 或問 (someone asks) or huoyi 或疑 (someone doubts); and yue 曰 (answer)

37

1636

Dadao jiyan 達道紀言

Alfonso Vagnone and Han Yun 韓雲 (?–1639)

* WXXB, vol. 2 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 34

Selected proverbs of Western saints and philosophers

38

1636

Shengjiao yuanliu 聖教源流

Zhu Yupu 朱毓朴

* CCT ARSI, vol. 3 * CCT BnF, vol. 23

yu wen 予問 (I ask) by Zhu Yupu; and xiansheng duiyue 先生對曰 (the master answers) by Rui de Figueiredo 費樂德 (1594–1642)

39

1636

Feilu dahui 斐錄答彙

Alfonso Vagnone

* CCT ARSI, wen 問 (question); and da 答 vol. 12; (answer) * CCT BnF, vol. 1 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 34

40

ca. 1637

Huanyu shimo 寰宇始末

Alfonso Vagnone

* CCT BnF, huowen 或問 (someone asks), vol. 2 huoyue 或曰 or huoyun 或云 * CCT BAV (someone says), wen 問 (1), vol. 26 (question); and yue 曰 (answer)

41

1637

Xifang dawen 西方答問

Giulio Aleni

CCT BAV (1), vol. 34

wen 問 or wenyue 問曰 (question); and yue 曰 (answer)

42

1637

Shengmeng ge 聖夢歌

Giulio Aleni

CCT ARSI, vol. 6

Allegorical dialogues between the soul and the body

43

1630– Kouduo richao 1640 口鐸日抄

Li Jiubiao 李九標, Zhang Geng 張賡, Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化 et al.

* CCT ARSI, vol. 7 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 26, 27

Daily conversations between the Jesuits (esp., Aleni) and local scholar converts in Fujian

348

APPENDICES

No. Years

1

Chinese Titles

Authors

44

ca. Tianzhu qinli Zhang Geng 1630s lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li 天主親立領洗告 解二要規之理

45

Facsimile Editions (Archives)

Major Dialogue Forms Used

CCT BnF, vol. 7

huoyue 或曰 (someone says) or yiwei 一謂 (one says); with answers not specified with clear marking words

ca. Dianjin shuo 1630s 點金說

Lin Guangyuan CCT BnF, vol. 7 林光元

ke wen 客問 (a guest asks); and dayue 答曰 (answer) by Linzi 林子 (i.e., Lin Guangyuan)

46

ca. Tongshan shuo 1630s 同善說 to 1650s

Li Zubai 李祖白

* CCT ARSI, huowen 或問 (someone asks); vol. 8 and yue 曰 (answer) * CCT BAV (1), vol. 40

47

1644

Tianxue juyao 天學舉要

Manuel Diaz Jr.

CCT BnF, vol. 23

ke you wen 客有問 (the guest asks) or ke yue 客曰 (the guest says); and dayue 答曰 (answer) by Xishi 西士 (the Western scholar)

48

1644

Shengti yaoli 聖體要理

Giulio Aleni

* CCT BnF, vol. 18 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 24

huowen 或問 (someone asks); and yue 曰 (answer)

49

16451 Tian-Shi mingbian 天釋明辨

Yang Tingyun

* WXXB, vol. 2 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 24

wen 問 (question); and yue 曰 (answer)

50

1642

Tianzhu shengjiao rumen wenda 天主聖教入門問 答

Juan García (Shi Ruohan 施若翰, 1605– 1665) and Francisco Díez (Su Fangji 蘇芳積, 1606– 1646)

* CCT ARSI, Catechetical work in the form vol. 2 of wen 問 (question) and da * CCT BAV 答 (answer) (1), vol. 42

51

1642

Meng Shibiao xiansheng bianjing lu 孟士 表先生辨敬錄

João Monteiro CCT BAV (Meng Ruwang (1), vol. 31 孟儒望, 1602– 1648), Qian Tinghuan 錢廷煥, Shui Rongbao 水榮褒

Posthumous.

huoyue 或曰 (someone says); and yue 曰 (answer)

APPENDICES No. Years

Chinese Titles

349

Authors

Facsimile Editions (Archives)

Major Dialogue Forms Used

* WXXB, vol. 2 * CCT BAV (1), vol. 15

huoyue 或曰 (someone says); and yue 曰 (answer)

52

ca. 1642

Tianxue lüeyi 天學略義

João Monteiro

53

1643

Taixi renshen shuogai 泰西人身說概

Johann T. CCT BnF, Schreck (Deng vol. 4 Yuhan 鄧玉函, 1575–1630)

wen 問 (question); and da 答 (answer) in the second volume

54

ca. 1643

Da kewen 答客問

Zhu Zongyuan CCT BAV (1), vol. 25 朱宗元 (ca. 1615–1660)

ke yue 客曰 (a guest says); and yue 曰 (answer) by Renji zhuren 認己主人 (i.e., Zhu Zongyuan)

55

ca. 1649

Shenxin siyao 身心四要

Zhou Zhi 周志

CCT ZKW XB, vol. 18

ke yue 客曰 (the guest says); and yue 曰 (answer)

56

ca. 1650

Tianjie 天階

Francesco Brancati (Pan Guoguang 潘國光, 1607– 1671)

* CCT ZKW huo wenyue 或問曰; and XB, vol. 17 dayue 答曰 (Only in the * CCT BAV Preface) (1), vol. 33

350

APPENDICES

Appendix II: Catalogue of Qinyi Church in Fuzhou Chinese Titles

Authors

Co-Authors /Collaborators

Preface Authors

1. Shengren xingshi 聖人行實

Alfonso Vagnone

2. Qike 七克

Diego de Pantoja

Yang Tingyun

3. Kouduo richao 口鐸日抄

* Giulio Aleni * Andrius Rudamina * Bento de Matos * Simão da Cunha * Li Jiubiao 李九標 * Zhang Geng 張賡 * Zhu Yuzhong 朱禺中 * Chen Jingyao 陳景燿 * Chen Jingming 陳景明 * Yang Kui 楊葵

* Chen Kekuan * Zhang Geng * Lin Yijun 陳克寬 * Li Jiubiao * Lin Yijun 林一儁 * Li Jiugong 李九功 * Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化 * Wen Heling 翁鶴齡 * Lin Yunqing 林雲卿 * Lin Eryuan 林爾元 * Yan Zhifu 顏之復 * Luo Tianyu 羅天與 * Chen Kesheng 陳克生 * Zhu Yuzhong 朱禺中

Years

Other 17thCentury Editions

Alfonso Vagnone

1631/ * Chaoxing 1632 Church, Hangzhou, 1629 * Sanshan Church, Fuzhou, 1631

* Diego de Pantoja * Cao Yubian 曹于汴 * Zheng Yiwei 鄭以偉 * Xiong Mingyu 熊明遇 * Chen Liangcai 陳亮采 * Wang Ruchun 汪汝淳 * Cui Chang 崔淐 * Fan Dingyu 樊鼎遇 * Peng Duanwu 彭端吾

* 16101615 * 1643/ 1694

1630– 1640

* TXCH * 1630 Qinyi Church, Minzhong (Fuzhou) * 1694 Lingbao Church, Beijing

APPENDICES Chinese Titles

Authors

Co-Authors /Collaborators

* Yan Weisheng 顏維聖 * Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化

* Zhang Xun 張勳 * Huang Weihan 黃惟翰 * Ke Shifang 柯士芳 * Lin Guangyuan 林光元 * Li Sixuan 李嗣玄 * Li Fengxiang 李鳳翔 * Wu Huaigu 吳懷古 * Feng Wenchang 馮文昌 * Su Zhizan 蘇之瓚

4. (Tianzhu) Giulio Aleni jiangsheng yanxing jilüe (天主) 降生 言行紀畧

Preface Authors

Giulio Aleni

Years

Other 17thCentury Editions

1635

* Jinjiang Church, Jinjiang, after 1635

5. Tianxue shiyi 天學實義2

Matteo Ricci

* Matteo Ricci 1603 * Giulio Aleni * Li Zhizao 李芝藻 * Feng Yingjing 馮應京 * Wang Ruchun * Gu Fengxiang 顧鳳翔 * Zhou Xianchen 周獻臣

6. Xingxue cushu 性學觕述

Giulio Aleni

* Chen Yi 陳儀 1624/ Minzhong Church, 1646 Fuzhou, 1646 * Qu Shisi 瞿式耜 * Zhu Shiheng 朱時亨

7. Pangzi yi- Diego de quan Pantoja 龐子遺詮

2

351

This work should be Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 by Matteo Ricci.

1610/ 1617

* Yanyi Church, Hangzhou, 1603 * Qinyi Church, Minzhong (Fuzhou) * Yanyi Church, Hangzhou, 1607

352 Chinese Titles 7a. Guishen shuo 鬼神說 3

APPENDICES Authors

Co-Authors /Collaborators

Preface Authors

Diego de Pantoja

Other 17thCentury Editions

1610/ 1618

7b. Renlei Diego de yuanshi Pantoja shuo 人類原始說

3

Years

1610

8. Shengmu xingshi 聖母行實

Alfonso Vagnone

* Duan Gun Giacomo Rho 段袞 (?–1641) * Han Lin 韓霖 * Chen Suoxing 陳所性 * Cheng Tingrui 程廷瑞 * Li Zubai 李祖白

9. Zhifang waiji 職方外紀

Giulio Aleni

Yang Tingyun

10. Dizui zhenggui 滌罪正規

Giulio Aleni

11. Jiren shipian 畸人十篇

Matteo Ricci

12. Shanzhong zhu-

João Fróis (Fu Ruowang

Wang Ruchun (1611 edition)

1631

* Jingjiao Church, Fuzhou, Fujian, 1660 * Dayuan Church, Guangzhou, 1680 * Lingbao Church, Beijing, 1694

* Giulio Aleni 1623 * Li Zhizao * Yang Tingyun * Qu Shigu 瞿式穀 * Xu Xuchen 許胥臣 * Ye Xianggao 葉向高 * Xiong Shiqi 熊士旂

* Hangzhou, 1623 * Fujian, 1626 * TXCH

Yang Tingyun

Jingjiao Church, Minzhong (Fuzhou), 1627

1627

* Li Zhizao 1608 * Liu Yinchang 劉胤昌 * Zhou Bingmo 周炳謨 * Wang Jiazhi 王家植 * Wang Ruchun * Wu Zai’ao 吳載鰲 * Yu Chunxi 虞淳熙

* Jiangxi, 1607 * Shenxiu Church, Hangzhou, 1608 * Reprinted by Wu Zai’ao 吳載鰲, Fujian, late 1620s * Shengmu lingbao hui, Beijing, 1685 * Lingbao Church, Beijing, 1694

João Fróis

Ridan Church, Jianwu

This work should refer to Pantoja’s Tianshen mogui 天神魔鬼.

ca. 1636

APPENDICES Chinese Titles

4

Authors

Co-Authors /Collaborators

Preface Authors

353 Years

Other 17thCentury Editions (Jianchang), Jiangxi

gong 善終助功

伏若望, 1591–1638)

13. Tianshi mingbian 天釋明辨

Yang Tingyun

Zhang Geng

16454 Church of Fuzhou, 1645

14. Jiaoyao jielüe 教要解略

Alfonso Vagnone

Alfonso Vagnone

1615

15. Misa jiyi Giulio Aleni 彌撒祭義

Giulio Aleni

1627

16. Daiyi pian 代疑篇

Yang Tingyun * Ruose sheng 若瑟生 * Kang Pijiang 康丕疆 (later edition)

* Li Zhizao 1621 * Wang Zheng 王徵 * Lin Qi 林起 * Yang Tingyun

Zhengxue Church, Wenling/Jinjiang, 1621

17. Lingyan lishao 靈言蠡勺

* Francesco Sambiasi * Xu Guangqi

Francesco Sambiasi

* Shanghai /Jiading, s.d. * Shenxiu Church, Hangzhou, 1624

18. (Tianzhu) shiyi xupian (天主)實義 續篇

Diego de Pantoja

19. Jihe yaofa 幾何要法

* Giulio Aleni * Ye Yifan * Qu Shigu 葉益藩 瞿式穀 * Chen Yingdeng 陳應登 * Chen Yujie 陳于階 * Zheng Hongyou 鄭洪猷

1624

1605- Jingjiao Church, 1615 Zhangzhou, after 1625

Zheng Hongyou 1631 鄭洪猷

20. Tang Manuel Dias, Jingjiao bei Jr. song quan 唐景教碑頌 詮

Manuel Dias, Jr.

1644

21. Shiwei 十慰

Alfonso Vagnone

16251635

Alfonso Vagnone

Posthumous.

* Nanjing (?), 1615, 1st ed. * Jiangzhou, Shanxi, 1626 (?) * Jingjiao Church, Fuzhou, 1630?

Hangzhou Church, 1644

354 Chinese Titles

APPENDICES Authors

Co-Authors /Collaborators

Years

Other 17thCentury Editions * Jinjiao Church, Jinjiang, 1637 * Chaoxing Church, Hangzhou, 1642

22. Xifang dawen 西方答問

Giulio Aleni

Jiang Dejing 蔣德璟

Mi Jiasui 米嘉穗

1637

23. Lixiu yijian 勵脩一鑑

Li Liugong

* Li Sixuan * Yan Zanhua * Li Jiubiao

* Chen Zhongdan 陳衷丹 * Li Sixuan * Zhang Geng * Li Jiugong

1639 or 1645

24. Zhenxin zongdu 振心總牘

Gaspar Ferreira (Fei Qigui 費奇規, 1571–1649)

25. Budeyi bian 不得已辯

* Lodovico Buglio * Ferdinand Verbiest

25a. Yulan Xifang jiyao 御覽西方紀 要5

* Lodovico Buglio * Gabriel de Magalhães (An Wensi 安文思, 1610–1677) * Ferdinand Verbiest

26. Tianwen Manuel Dias, * Zhou Xiling lüe Jr. 周希令 天問略 * Kong Zhenshi 孔貞時 * Wang Yingxiong 王應熊 * Xiong Mingyu * Li Zhizao * Xu Leshan 許樂善 * Yang Tingyun * Xu Guangqi 徐光啟 * Zhuo Erkang 卓爾康 * João da Rocha 5

Preface Authors

16401649

* Lodovico Buglio * Ferdinand Verbiest

* 1665 * 1669

1669

* Zhou Xiling 1615 * Kong Zhenshi * Wang Yingxiong * Manuel Dias, Jr.

The common title should be Yulan Xifang yaoji 御覽西方要紀.

TXCH

APPENDICES Chinese Titles

Authors

Co-Authors /Collaborators

Preface Authors

355 Years

Other 17thCentury Editions

* Pedro Ribeiro (Li Ningshi 黎寧石) (1570– 1640) 27. Sanshan Giulio Aleni lunxue ( ji) 三山論學 (紀)

* Zhang Geng * Ye Yifan 葉益藩 * Fan Zhong 范中 * Shu Fangmao 舒芳懋

* Su Maoxiang 1629 蘇茂相 * Huang Jingfang 黃景昉 * Zhang Weishu 張維樞 * Duan Xi 段襲

28. Shengjiao shilu 聖教實錄

Michele Ruggieri

Michele Ruggieri

ca. 1640

29. Bianxue yidu 辯學遺牘

Matteo Ricci

Li Zhizao Yang Tingyun

ca. 1624

30. Shengmu jingjie 聖母經解

Giacomo Rho Li Tianjing 李天經

31. Wanwu zhenyuan 萬物真原

Giulio Aleni

32. Shengti yaoli 聖體要理

Giulio Aleni

Zhang Geng

33. Pi wang Xu Guangqi (?) 闢妄 34. Xixue fan 西學凡

Giulio Aleni

35. Jiaoyou lun 交友論

Matteo Ricci

* Jiangzhou Church, Shanxi, ca. 1639 * Shoushan Church, Beijing, 1694

* Qinyi Church, Fuzhou, s.d. * TXCH

ca. Jingjiao Church, 1632? Beijing, 1636 Giulio Aleni Zhang Weishu

1628

* Jingjiao Church, Jinjiang, ca. 1630 * Dayuan Church, Guangzhou, ca. 1680 * Wuchang, ca. 1680–1720 * Shoushan Church, Beijing, 1694?

Giulio Aleni

1644

* Fuzhou Church, Fujian, 1644 * Jishan Church, 1644?

16151680 * Yuan Shengwen 袁升聞 * Xu Xuchen 許胥臣 * Xiong Shiqi 熊士旂

* He Qiaoyuan 1623 何喬遠 * Yang Tingyun * Xu Xuchen * Xiong Shiqi

Qinyi Church, Fuzhou, 1626

* Feng Yingjing 1595/ TXCH * Qu Rukui 1601 瞿汝夔

356 Chinese Titles

APPENDICES Authors

Co-Authors /Collaborators

Preface Authors

Years

Other 17thCentury Editions

* Chen Jiru 陳繼儒 * Zhu Tingce 朱廷策 35a. Ershiwu yan 二十五言

Matteo Ricci

Wang Ruchun

* Feng Yingjing 1604 * Xu Guangqi

Qinyi Church, Fuzhou, s.d.

36. Shengji baiyan 聖記百言

Giacomo Rho Cheng Tingrui 程廷瑞

* Wang 1632 Bingyuan 汪秉元 * Giacomo Rho * Cheng Tingrui

Jingjiao Church, Sanshan (Fuzhou), 1633

37. Wushi yanyu 五十言餘

Giulio Aleni

Zhang Geng

* Minzhong Church, Fuzhou, 1645

38. Sheng Niccolò Ruosafa Longobardo xingshi 聖若撒法行 實6 39. (Tianzhu) shengxiang lüeshuo (天主) 聖像略說

6

1645- Minzhong Church, 1646 Fuzhou, 1645/1646

* Wu You 吳佑 * Xu Ji 徐驥 * Feng Wenchang 馮文昌 * Zhang Geng

* João da * Pedro Ribeiro Rocha * Domingos * Xu Guangqi Mendes (Qiu Liangbing 邱良稟, 1582– 1652)

39a. Si shuo Niccolò Longobardo 死說

1645

1615/ 1619

* Cheng Tingrui ca. * Giacomo Rho 1631

* Jingyi Church, Yunjian/Shanghai, s.d. * Minzhong Jingjiao Church, Fuzhou, 1633

40. Yuanjing John Adam shuo Schall von Bell 遠鏡說

Li Zubai 李祖白

John Adam Schall von Bell

1626/ * Chongzhen lishu 1630 崇禎曆書, 1635 * Xiyang xinfa lishu 西洋新法曆 書, 1645

41. Shengshui jiyan 聖水紀言

Zhang Wentao 張文燾

Li Zhizao

1582– 1616

* Sun Xueshi 孫學詩 * Yang Tingyun

There is a variant title for this work: Sheng Ruosafa shimo 聖若撒法行實始末.

APPENDICES Chinese Titles

Authors

42. Shengmeng ge 聖夢歌

Giulio Aleni

43. (Tianzhu) shengjiao yueyan (天主)聖教 約言

João Soeiro

44. Huizui yaozhi 悔罪要旨7

* Giulio Aleni * Lazzaro Cattaneo

Co-Authors /Collaborators * Xiong Shiqi * Pan Shikong 潘師孔 * Su Fuying 蘇 負英

45. Shui hua Francesco Sambiasi da 睡畫答

Preface Authors * Zhang Geng * Lin Yijun * Li Jiubiao * Duan Gun

357 Years

1637

Giulio Aleni

1630– 1640

Li Zhizao

1629

46. Shengjing lüeyan 聖經畧言

Matteo Ricci?

ca. 1610

47. Xizi qiji 西字奇蹟

Matteo Ricci

1606

48. Xiao dizui zhenggui 小滌罪 正規8

Giulio Aleni

ca. 1630

49. Xiao misa jiyi 彌撒祭義9

Giulio Aleni

ca. 1635

50. (Tianzhu Giulio Aleni shengjiao) sizi jingwen (天主聖教) 四字經文

Li Shihuan 李奭浣 (1663 reprint)

1642

51. ShengAntónio de jiao mengyin Gouvea 聖教蒙引 10

António de Gouvea Tong Guoqi 佟國器

1655

Other 17thCentury Editions * Jinjiang Church, Fujian, 1637 * Jiangzhou Church, Shanxi, 1639 * Qinyi Church, Fuzhou, 1684

Shoushan Church, Beijing, ca. 1695

Yuedan Church, Jianwu, (Jianchang), Jiangxi, 1663

7

The original title should be 悔罪要指.

8

This should be Giulio Aleni’s Dizui zhenggui lüe 滌罪正規略.

9

This should be Giulio Aleni’s Misa jiyi lüe 彌撒祭義略.

10

The full title should be Tianzhu shengjiao mengyin yaolan 天主聖教蒙引要覽

358

APPENDICES

Chinese Titles

Authors

Co-Authors /Collaborators

52. Shengjiao rike 聖教日課 11

Compiled by: * Lazzaro Cattaneo * Gaspar Ferreira * Manuel Dias, Jr. * Francisco Furtado * Rui de Figueiredo

Re-compiled by: * Lodovico Buglio * Ferdinand Verbiest

11

Preface Authors

Years

Other 17thCentury Editions

ca. 1637 (1st) ca. 1665 (2nd)

The catalogue records that this work contains the complete set in three volumes, possibly referring to the three-volume edition first compiled by Cattaneo and four other Jesuits by the end of the Ming regime and re-compiled by Buglio and Verbiest in the early Qing period.

APPENDICES

359

Appendix III: Editors and Contributors of Kouduo richao Vol. No.

Names (courtesy names)

Places of Origin (modern names)

Editorial Responsibilities

Participants of Dialogues?

Period Covered in Volume One (February 1630 – March 1631) 1

Li Jiubiao 李九標 (Qixiang 其香)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

biji 筆記 (recorder)

Yes

1

Zhang Geng 張賡 (Minggao 明皋)

Wenling 溫陵 (Quanzhou)

dingzheng 訂正 (corrector)

Yes

1

Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化 (Sican 思參)

Qingzhang 清漳 (Zhangzhou)

dingzheng 訂正 (corrector)

Yes

1

Chen Kekuan (Kongxi) 陳克寬 (Kongxi 孔熙)

Jin’an 晉安 (Fuzhou)

jiaoyue 校閱 (reader)

Yes

1

Lin Yijun 林一儁 (Yongyu 用籲)

Jin’an 晉安 (Fuzhou)

jiaoyue 校閱 (reader)

Yes

1

Li Jiugong 李九功 (Qixu 其敘)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

canding 參定 (coordinator)

Yes

Period Covered in Volume Two (May – November 1631) 2

Li Jiubiao 李九標 (Qixiang 其香)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

biji 筆記 (recorder)

Yes

2

Zhang Geng 張賡 (Minggao 明皋)

Wenling 溫陵 (Quanzhou)

dingzheng 訂正 (corrector)

Yes

2

Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化 (Sican 思參)

Qingzhang 清漳 (Zhangzhou)

dingzheng 訂正 (corrector)

Yes

2

Weng Heling 翁鶴齡 (Yunjian 允鑑)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

jiaoyue 校閱 (reader)

Yes

2

Lin Yunqing 林雲卿 (Mingjian 鳴見)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

jiaoyue 校閱 (reader)

Yes

2

Li Jiugong 李九功 (Qixu 其敘)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

canding 參定 (coordinator)

Yes

Period Covered in Volume Three (December 1631 – September 1632) 3

Li Jiubiao 李九標 (Qixiang 其香)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

Huiji 彙記 (general recorder)

Yes

3

Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化 (Sican 思參)

Qingzhang 清漳 (Zhangzhou)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

Yes

3

Yan Weisheng 顏維聖 (Erxuan 爾宣)

Wenling 溫陵 (Quanzhou)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

Yes

3

Zhang Geng 張賡 (Minggao 明皋)

Wenling 溫陵 (Quanzhou)

dingzheng 訂正 (corrector)

Yes

3

Lin Eryuan 林爾元 (Erhui 爾會)

Qingxi 清溪 (Anxi 安溪)

dianding 點定 (punctuation)

No

360 Vol. No.

APPENDICES Names (courtesy names)

Places of Origin (modern names)

Editorial Responsibilities

Participants of Dialogues?

3

Yan Zhifu 顏之復 (Kongzhi 孔至)

Taoyuan 桃源 (Yongchun 永春)

dianding 點定 (punctuation)

No

3

Luo Tianyu 羅天與 (Taixuan 太玄)

Jin’an 晉安 (Fuzhou)

jiaoji 較輯 (editor– compiler)

No

Period Covered in Volume Four (March – October 1633) 4

Li Jiubiao 李九標 (Qixiang 其香)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

Huiji 彙記 (general recorder)

Yes

4

Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化 (Sican 思參)

Qingzhang 清漳 (Zhangzhou)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

Yes

4

Lin Eryuan 林爾元 (Erhui 爾會)

Qingxi 清溪 (Anxi 安溪)

dianding 點定 (punctuation)

No

4

Chen Kesheng 陳克生 (Kongzhao 孔昭)

Jin’an 晉安 (Fuzhou)

dianding 點定 (punctuation)

Yes

4

Lin Yijun 林一儁 (Yongyu 用籲)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

canding 參定 (coordinator)

Yes

4

Li Jiugong 李九功 (Qixu 其敘)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

jiaoji 較輯 (editorcompiler)

Yes

Period Covered in Volume Five (November 1633 – June 1634) 5

Li Jiubiao 李九標 (Qixiang 其香)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

Huiji 彙記 (general recorder)

Yes

5

Yang Kui 楊葵 (Peilu 配祿)

Fusha 富沙 (Jianning 建寧)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

No

5

Chen Jingming 陳景明 (Zhaojia 肇夾)

Taoyuan 桃源 (Yongchun 永春)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

Yes

5

Zhang Xun 張勳 (Taiyuan 台垣)

Yanjin 延津 (Yanping 延平)

jiaoding 較訂 (revision)

No

5

Huang Weihan 黃惟翰 (Zongqing 宗卿)

Mingxi 明溪 (Tingzhou 汀州)

jiaoding 較訂 (revision)

No

5

Lin Eryuan 林爾元 (Erhui 爾會)

Wenling 溫陵 (Quanzhou)

dianding 點定 (punctuation)

No

5

Zhu Yuzhong 朱禺中 (Dongji 東極)

Puyang 莆陽 (Putian 莆田)

dianding 點定 (punctuation)

No

Period Covered in Volume Six (July 1634 – September 1636) 6

Li Jiubiao 李九標 (Qixiang 其香)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

Huiji 彙記 (general recorder)

Yes

6

Chen Jingming 陳景明 (Zhaojia 肇夾)

Taoyuan 桃源 (Yongchun 永春)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

Yes

6

Chen Jingyao 陳景耀 (Zhaogen 肇艮)

Taoyuan 桃源 (Yongchun 永春)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

Yes

APPENDICES Vol. No.

Names (courtesy names)

Places of Origin (modern names)

361 Editorial Responsibilities

Participants of Dialogues?

6

Ke Shifang 柯士芳 (Wuyu 無譽)

Puyang 莆陽 (Putian 莆田)

jiaoding 較訂 (revision)

No

6

Lin Guangyuan 林光元 Puyang 莆陽 (Zhongxi 仲錫) (Putian 莆田)

jiaoding 較訂 (revision)

No

Period Covered in Volume Seven (Feburary – October 1637) 7

Li Jiubiao 李九標 (Qixiang 其香)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

Huiji 彙記 (general recorder)

Yes

7

Zhang Geng 張賡 (Minggao 明皋)

Wenling 溫陵 (Quanzhou)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

Yes

7

Yan Weisheng 顏維聖 (Erxuan 爾宣)

Wenling 溫陵 (Quanzhou)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

Yes

7

Li Sixuan 李嗣玄 (Youxuan 又玄)

Sui’an 綏安 (Zhangpu 漳浦)

jiaoding 較訂 (revision)

No

7

Li Fengxiang 李鳳翔 (Yuyi 羽儀)

Sui’an 綏安 (Zhangpu 漳浦)

jiaoding 較訂 (revision)

No

7

Wu Huaigu 吳懷古 (Jinsheng 今生)

Wulin 武林 (Hangzhou)

tongding 同訂 (co-editor)

No

7

Feng Wenchang 馮文昌 Wulin 武林 (Yanxiang 硯祥) (Hangzhou)

tongding 同訂 (co-editor)

No

Period Covered in Volume Eight (September 1638 – July 1640) 8

Li Jiubiao 李九標 (Qixiang 其香)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

biji 筆記 (recorder)

Yes

8

Zhu Yuzhong 朱禺中 (Dongji 東極)

Puyang 莆陽 (Putian 莆田)

fenlu 分錄 (individual recorder)

No

8

Lin Guangyuan 林光元 Puyang 莆陽 (Zhongxi 仲錫) (Putian 莆田)

dingzheng 訂正 (corrector)

No

8

Su Zhizan 蘇之瓚 (Shengzhong 聖中)

Puyang 莆陽 (Putian 莆田)

dingzheng 訂正 (corrector)

No

8

Li Sixuan 李嗣玄 (Youxuan 又玄)

Sui’an 綏安 (Zhangpu 漳浦)

jianding 鑒定 (reviewer)

No

8

Li Fengxiang 李鳳翔 (Yuyi 羽儀)

Sui’an 綏安 (Zhangpu 漳浦)

jianding 鑒定 (reviewer)

No

8

Li Jiugong 李九功 (Qixu 其敘)

Futang 福唐 (Haikou/Fuqing)

jiaoyue 校閱 (reader)

Yes

Bibliography ∗

I. Primary Sources

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∗

All Chinese primary sources are listed according to titles.

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Index and Glossary

A a’erdeng 阿兒等 (ordo), 291 n. 92 Abgar (King of Edessa), 260 Acquaviva, Claudio, S.J. (1543– 1615), 54, 78 Adam and Eve, 186, 193-194, 220, 297 adultery, 302, 319-320 afterlife, 68-70, 167, 188-189, 252 ai 愛 (love), 229 Ai Rulüe 艾儒略, see Aleni, Giulio (1582–1649) aijin 哀矜, see Fourteen Works of Mercy Aijin xingquan 哀矜行詮 (Explanatory Notes on the Fourteen Works of Mercy, by G. Rho), 201-202, 233 airen 愛人 (love people), 223 aiyu 愛欲, see volition Alenda, Gaspar, O.F.M. (?–1642), 99 Aleni, Giulio, S.J. (Ai Rulüe 艾儒略, 1582–1649), 77-106 (life and mission in China), 113-116 (mission strategy and dialogism), 117123 (relationship with the Li brothers), 123-127 (relationship with Zhang Geng), 189-194 (on Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection), 229-234 (on Christian–Confucian love), 250253 (criticism at Buddhism and Daoism), 253-254 (criticism at popular religions), 274-290 (images in the Illustrated Life of Christ), 336-338 (mission strategy and dialogism), 339-341 (Christian–Confucian synthesis)

ancestral worship, 102, 115 angels (tianshen 天神), 149-150, 174, 182-183, 204, 270-272, 281-284, 310; 203, 242 (fallen –)  anima ( yanima 亞尼瑪), 64, 71, 211-212 Annunciation, scene of, 285-288 anti-Christian incidents, 84-86, 88, 98-103, 222, 313 apologetic works, 66-70, 125-126, 192-194 Aquinas, Thomas, Saint (1225– 1274), 149, 200-201, 210-216, 233; 93, 183, 184, 212, 339 (Thomist theology) Aristotle (384–322 B.C.E.), 46, 48, 82 n. 19, 83, 162-163, 172, 210, 266; see also natural philosophy armillary sphere (tiandi yi 天地儀), 156, 159-161, 272 association (hui 會), Christian lay –, 85, 96, 181, 205-206 Association for Achieving a Good Death (Shanzhong hui 善終會), see shanzhong Association for Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen hui 修真會), 251252 Association of the Holy Mother (Shengmu hui 聖母會), 96, 181, 206-207 Assumption (of the Virgin Mary), 287 astrologic divination, 38, 58-59, 92, 173 astrology, Chinese, 172-176 astronomy, Western, 133-144

392

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Augustine, Saint (354–430), 216, 231-232 Ave Maria, see Hail Mary Averroës (Ibn Rushd, 1126–1198), 139

B Badele 罷德肋 (Pater), 194-197 badisimo 拔弟斯摩, see baptism balayisuo 罷辣依所 ( paradiso), 6869 basi duomini 罷斯鐸彌尼 (Pax Domini, i.e., peace of the Lord), 308 baikou 白口 (white mouth), 112 bainidengjiya 白尼登濟亞 ( poenitentia), 291 n. 92, 299; see also confession baoshen 報身 (sambhogakāya), 195 baptism (badisimo 拔弟斯摩, maodishimo ), 65, 126, 220, 226, 263, 291, 292298, 299 barbarians, 4, 53, 99, 100, 125, 202, 203, 275, 313 benti 本體 (essential body), 218 benzui 本罪 (natural sin), 71 Bi Fangji 畢方濟, see Sambiasi, Francesco Bian Fangshi 卞芳世, see Peris, Francisco biannian jishi 編年紀事 (historical chronicles), 31 Bian zhengjiao zhenchuan shilu 辨正 教真傳實錄 (Apologia de la Verdadera Religion, by J. Cobo) 50-52, 57, 73, 142-143 Biaodu shuo 表度說 (On the Gnomon, by S. de Ursis), 153, 155

Big Dipper, 136-137, 174-175 (Southern Dipper) bing 丙 (one of the ten Heavenly Stems), 288 bingqi 禀氣 (vital force), 218; see also qi 氣 Bo Yingli 柏應理, see Couplet, Philippe bosuoya 伯瑣亞 ( persōna), 195 bowen you daoshu zhi ren 博聞有道 術之人 (erudite man who has magic skills), 61 boxue 博學 (broad learning), 52 body, human, 213-216 Bonaventure, Saint (1221–1274), 239 Book of Changes, see Yijing 易經 Book of History, see Shangshu 尚書 Book of Rites, see Liji 禮記 Book of Songs, see Shijing 詩經 Brahe, Tycho (1546–1601), 143-144, 149 Brancati, Francesco, S.J. (Pan Guoguang 潘國光, 1607–1671), 11 Brescia, 78, 82 Budeyi bian 不得已辨 (Refutation of I Cannot Do Otherwise, by F. Verbiest) 153 Budeyi bian 不得已辯 (A Critique of I Cannot Do Otherwise, by L. Buglio), 192 buzuo foshi 不做佛事 (Do not perform Buddhist services), 328 Buddha, 48, 58, 67, 70, 195, 250251, 295-296 Buddhism, 27, 47-49, 57-58, 65-68; 61 (fasting), 323 (funeral services)

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

393

Buddhist titles, see seng 僧, senghuang 僧皇, sengshi 僧師, Heshang wang 和尚王

chastity, 79, 96, 208, 209, 243, 247, 315 cheji 徹祭 (concluding service), 307

Buglio, Lodovico, S.J. (Li Leisi 利 類思, 1606–1682), 192

Chen Houguang 陳候光, 225 n. 147 Chen Jian 陳鑑, 247 Chen Jingming 陳景明, 186, 232

C Caballero, Antonio de Santa Maria, O.F.M. (Li Andang 利安當, 1602–1669), 99 caelum empyreum (the highest heaven), 142-143, 197 calendar, 144-148 (Chinese/Western), 180 (Gregorian –), 146, 148, 180 (Julian –), 35, 146-147 (reform), 35, 145 (solar –) Canevari, Pietro, S.J. (Nie Boduo 聶 伯多, 1594–1675), 106, 116 n. 149 Cao Junyi 曹君義, 259 Cao Xuequan 曹學詮 (1574–1646), 90, 226, 338 cardinal sins, seven, 221, 237, 241243 Carvalho, Valentin, S.J. (1559–1631), 134-135 Castiglione, Baldassare (1478–1529), 46, 62 catechism, 50, 62-64, 105, 187, 195, 196 catechumen, 57, 63-64, 71, 74, 126, 292 Cattaneo, Lazzaro, S.J. (Guo Jujing 郭居靜, 1560–1640), 65, 94 celestial spheres, 142, 159-160 chanhui 懺悔 (Buddhist penitential ceremony), 299 charity (caritas, shecai 捨財), 232, 237

Chen Kekuan 陳克寬, 130 n. 215, 159 Chen Kesheng 陳克生, 118, 130 n. 215, 248 Chen Rutiao 陳汝調, 262 Chen Zheng 陳鉦, 298 Chen Zhongdan 陳衷丹, 243 n. 216, 309 Cheng 程 Brothers (i.e., Cheng Hao 程顥 [1032–1085] and Cheng Yi 程頤 [1033–1107]), 44, 169 Cheng Dayue 程大約 (ca. 1541– 1610), 259, 267 Cheng Tang 成湯 (King of Shang Dynasty), 191, 210, 308 Chenghuang 城隍, see City Gods Chengshi moyuan 程氏墨苑 (Mr. Cheng’s Collection of Ink-stick Designs, by Cheng Dayue), 259 Chinese Rites Controversy, 22, 98 n. 88, 123, 329 chongguang xieqia 重光協洽, 120 Chongzhen lishu 崇禎曆書 (Calendar Compendium of [Emperor] Chongzhen’s Reign), 147 Christology, 194, 195, 336 chronicle style, 31, 128 chronotope, 35-36 chuanshou Tianzhu shengjiao xiansheng 傳授天主聖教先生 (Teacher to Instruct the Holy Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven), 71

394

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Chuanxi lu 傳習錄 (Instructions for Practical Living, by Wang Shouren), 44, 45, 53-54 n. 74, 273 ci yu ren 慈於人 (benevolence towards people), 223, 229-232, 252, 256 Cinquecento, 46, 62 City Gods (Chenghuang 城隍), 22, 102, 115, 162, 253 civil service examinations, 65, 115, 117, 118, 120, 136, 157, 174, 178, 249, 253 clavichord (Xiqin 西琴), 258, 259, 265-267, 329, 340 Clavius, Christopher, S.J. (1537– 1612), 146 Cobo, Juan, O.P. (Gao Muxian 呣 𠿢, 1546–1592), 50-54, 56-57, 73, 142-143 Cocchi, Angelo, O.F.M. (1597– 1633), 99 communion (gongmengyang 共蒙仰/ 恭蒙仰), 291 n. 92, 305, 307, 310; see also Eucharist compass (luopan 羅盤), 177 concubinage, 72, 100, 124, 205, 243, 294, 297-298, 302, 315-321 confession (bainidengjiya 白尼登濟 亞, poenitentia, gaojie 告解), 86, 87, 126, 235, 236-237, 239, 241, 272, 298-305, 321 Confucianism 56-60, 65-66, 115, 122, 160, 165, 211-212, 217, 221-222, 240, 252, 255, 334 Confucius (Kongzi 孔子, ca. 551 – ca. 479 B.C.E.), 9, 25, 43, 60, 166, 218, 222, 228, 230, 236, 241, 243, 252, 254, 306, 324, 327, 334

Confucius from the West (Xilai Kongzi 西來孔子), 9, 77 n. 1, 92 conscience, 219, 245; see also innate knowledge (liangzhi 良知) contemplation, 80, 87, 235, 239-240, 244-247, 256 Copernicus, 13, 140 (heliocentric theory) cosmology, 70, 135, 142, 153, 155, 197; 149, 162-163 (medieval –), 13, 70, 142-143, 149, 153, 154, 159, 160 (Ptolemaic –) Council of Trent, 292, 297, 314 Counter-Reformation, 79, 205, 314 Couplet, Philippe, S.J. (Bo Yingli 柏 應理, 1623–1693), 316 creation, Christian theology of –, 93, 152, 186-188, 198, 245 Creator, 52, 57, 134, 148, 150, 182, 186-188, 199 crucifixion, 190, 246, 255, 261, 275 Cunha, Simão da, S.J. (Qu Ximan 瞿 西滿, 1590–1660), 95, 106, 116 n. 149, 118-119, 266-267 cunxin yangxing 存心養性 (keeping the original mind and cultivating the nature), 234, 244

D Da fantian Wang 大梵天王 (Mahābrahmā), 150, 250 da fumu 大父母 (Great FatherMother), 70, 93, 104, 223-229, 234, 250, 256, 340 Da Xiyangguo 大西洋國 (Country of the Great Western Ocean), 258 da zhuzai 大主宰 (Great Monarch), 93 Daming lü 大明律 (Great Ming Code), 313

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Daru 大儒 (renowned scholar), 68 Datong 大統 (calendar), 144, 147 Daxi Xitai Li xiansheng xingji 大西 西泰利先生行跡 (Life of Master Li Xitai from the Great West, by G. Aleni) 96, 298 n. 113 dayue 答曰 (answer), 6 Dai Qifeng 戴起鳳, 190-191 Daiyi pian 代疑篇 (Treatise to Supplant Doubts, by Yang Tingyun), 66-69, 84, 195, 209, 294, 308 Daiyi xupian 代疑續篇 (Subsequent Treatise to Supplant Doubts, by Yang Tingyun) 127 danbo 淡泊 (temperance), 237 Dante (1265–1321), 139 Dao 道 (the Way), 25, 60, 105, 136, 219, 277 Daode tianzun 道德天尊 (deity), 253 Daoke 道科 (theologia), 150 Daoxue 道學 (Learning of the Way), 181 Daoism, 25, 43-44, 56, 64, 67, 168, 212, 251-253; 136 n. 8, 253 (deities), 302, 314 (rituals), 26, 43, 60, 136 (texts) David, Jan, S.J. (1546–1613), 272 de 德, see virtue Dehua 德化 (Longxun 龍浔), 123, 174, 302, 310 Dewang 德望 (Stephen), 77 n. 1, 117 demon(s), 203, 262, 263 Deus (liaowusi 了無私), 57 Deng Yuhan 鄧玉涵, see Schreck, Johann T.

395

devil(s), 68, 149, 182, 185, 197, 200, 203, 220, 236, 242, 243, 262-264, 269-273, 293 n. 97 di 禘 (ancestral sacrifice), 306 diyu 地獄, see Hell dizhi 地支 (Earthly Branches), 120 Dizui zhenggui 滌罪正規 (Proper Rules to Cleanse Sins, by G. Aleni) 64, 93-94, 226, 299, 300, 302, 304 dialogism, 1-3, 32, 39-41, 44, 113116, 333-341; 24-29, 39, 75, 92, 192, 218 (dialogic hybridization), 160, 336 (dialogic relation), 17, 41, 46, 74-75, 131 (dialogue as a hybrid genre), 21, 32-41, 45, 64, 128, 180 (mechanisms of dialogue) Dias, Manuel, S.J. (Yang Manuo 陽 瑪諾, 1574–1659), 12, 100, 105, 119, 134-135, 140, 143, 149, 328 ding 丁 (one of the ten Heavenly Stems), 289 Doctrina Christiana, 50, 194, 248, 249 n. 236 Dominic, Saint (1170–1221), 207 Dominicans, 22, 50, 98-99, 101, 205, 324 Donghai 東海, see Eastern Sea donghui 動悔 (moved repentance), 303-304; see also repentance douluriya 陡祿日亞 (theologia, Daoke 道科), 82 n. 19, 150, 181 dragon(s), 171, 177 Duke of Zhou, 42, 199, 222, 228 duxing ren 獨行人 (solitary man) 61 duo 鐸 (large bell), 8-9, 36-37 duode 鐸德 (Sacerdote), 24, 37 n. 23, 74, 77, 94, 114

396

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

duominusi abisigong 鐸彌奴斯阿比 斯公 (Dominus vobiscum, i.e., the Lord be with you), 307-308 Duomo 多默 (Thomas), 117 Duowenzi 多聞子 (Master Erudition), 66

E E’huang 娥皇 (daughter of Yao), 320 e’lajiya 額辣濟亞, see gracia e’leliya 厄樂利亞, see gloria e’sidelemawengzang 阨斯得肋麻翁 藏, see extremus unctio/Extreme Unction Earth, 171 (earthquakes), 162-166 (– in Five Agents and Four Elements theory), 137-139 (moon’s reflections of the –), 157 (rotation of the –), 151-162 (shape of the –, Western/Chinese) Eastern Sea (Donghai 東海), 83, 85, 87, 114, 254-255, 338 Ebreo, Leone (Judah Abrabanel, ca. 1465–1530), 46 embryo, 196, 214 Emperor Chongzhen 崇禎 (r. 1627– 1644), 31, 120, 144, 147, 275 Emperor Hongwu 洪武 (r. 1368– 1398), 147 Emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1100– 1125/1126), 253 Emperor Wanli 萬曆 (r. 1572– 1620), 49, 258, 265, 266, 267 Emperor Yongzheng 雍正 (1723– 1735), 16 equinoxes, 143, 146 n. 44 Ershiwu yan 二十五言 (Twenty-five Proverbs, by M. Ricci), 106

Escalona, Francisco a Jesús de, 101 ethnocentrism, 3-4, 15, 41 Eucharist (ling Shengti 領聖體), 8687, 105, 305-313 Eurocentrism, 4, 14, 15 Evangelicae Historiae Imagines (by J. Nadal), 206, 267, 274, 276, 278, 279, 282, 284, 289 Evangelium, see gospels Exaltation of the Holy Cross, 261, 264 exorcism, 262-263, 293 exoticism, 258, 259 extremus unctio/Extreme Unction (e’sidelemawengzang 阨斯得肋 麻翁藏), 291 n. 92, 321

F fa 發 (activate), 197 falisai’e 發利塞俄, see Pharisee fashen 法身 (dharmakāya), 195 faith, Christian, 58, 68, 73, 125-126, 211, 236, 291; 194 (– and Chinese knowledge), 263-264 (efficacy of –) fanli 凡例 (editorial principles), 128129 fangwei 方位 ( Directions and Positions), 177 Far West (Yuanxi 遠西), 55, 259 feast days, Catholic, 207 (Annuciation), 261, 264 (Exaltation of the Holy Cross), 262 (Finding the Holy Cross), 310 (St. John the Baptist), 247 (Virgin Mary’s visit to Elizabeth) Fei zhongzun 費中尊, 228 Fei Lede 費樂德, see Figueiredo, Rui de

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Feilüe 費略, see Filius feilusuofeiya 斐錄所費亞 ( philosophia), 82 n. 19, 150 Feng Qi 馮琦 (1558–1603), 61 fengshui 風水, see geomancy Figueiredo, Rui de, S.J. (Fei Lede 費 樂德, 1608–1642), 71 filial piety (xiao 孝), 13, 57, 58, 223-229, 234, 254, 256, 306, 314-315, 318-319, 324, 327, 339340 Filius (Feilüe 費略), 194, 195, 196 firmament (liexiu tian 列宿天), 133, 135, 142-143 fire, 162-166 (in Four Elements Theory), 200, 269 (in Hell) Five Agents (wuxing 五行), 162166, 176 Five Classics (Wujing 五經), 248 food-offering, 250, 308 n. 148, 323326, 328 Formosa, 51, 99 four cardinal virtues, 232, 237 Four Causes, 92, 188 Four Elements (sixing 四行), 154, 162-167, 170 Fourteen Works of Mercy (Aijin shisi duan 哀矜十四端), 233, 248 Franciscans, 22, 94, 98, 99, 204, 293, 324 free will (zizhuan 自專), 69, 184185, 203, 217, 232 friendship, 266-267 fu 賦 (a Chinese poetic form), 281 Fu Fanji 傅汎際, see Furtado, Francisco Fu’an 福安, 16, 17, 99, 100, 124, 323

397

Fuqing 福清, 77, 88, 117, 190, 214, 228, 230, 241, 263, 264, 298 Fushe 復社 (Restoration Society), 121 Fuxi 伏羲, 186, 187, 202 Fuzhou 福州, passim, esp. 89-124 funeral (ceremony), 22, 309 n. 149, 314-315, 321-329 Furtado, Francisco, S.J. (Fu Fanji 傅 汎際, 1589–1653), 99, 153

G gaitian 蓋天 (canopy heaven), 153, 155, 160 Galilei, Galileo (1564–1642), 139141 Galle, Theodoor (1571–1633), 272 Gao Muxian 呣𠿢, see Cobo, Juan Gao Yizhi 高一志, see Vagnone, Alfonso gaojie 告解, see confession gewu qiongli 格物窮理 (investigation of things and principles), 170-171, 179-180, 339 gender distinction (imperial China), 293, 304 geomancy ( fengshui 風水, kanyu 堪 輿), 97 n. 84, 176-179, 326-327 ghosts, 263; see also exorcism gloria (e’leliya 厄樂利亞), 307 Gong Daoli 龔道立, 61, 90 n. 54 gong’an 公案 (public cases), 45 gongdilizang 恭第利藏 (contritio), see tonghui 痛悔 gongfei’ermazang 共斐兒瑪藏 (confirmatio), 291 n. 92

398

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

gongguo ge 功過格, see Ledgers of Merits and Demerits gongmengyang 共蒙仰/恭蒙仰, see communion Good Friday, 246 good works, 106, 219, 232-233, 236, 245, 256; see also charity gospels (Wanrilüe 萬日略, Evangelium), 97, 275, 277, 280282, 307 gracia (e’lajiya 額辣濟亞), 232 Grand Secretary (Xiangguo 相國), 88-91, 101, 251 Gravina, Girolamo de, S.J. (Jia Muyi 賈宜睦, 1603–1662), 11 Great Father-Mother, see da fumu 大 父母 Great Ultimate (taiji 太極), 41, 52 n. 70, 187-188, 328 Gu Qiyuan 顧起元 (1565–1628), 109, 268 Guligan 骨利幹, 158 Guan Yu 關羽, see Lord Guan Guan Zhong 管仲 (725–645 B.C.E.), 168 Guanyin 觀音/Guanshiyin 觀世音 (Avalokiteśvara), 4, 26, 67, 208209, 286, 339 Guangdong 廣東, 1, 47, 105, 118, 123 Guo Jujing 郭居靜, see Cattaneo, Lazzaro Guo Weihan 郭維翰, 244 n. 220

H hagiography, 201-202 Haikou 海口 (Longjiang 龍江), 95, 96, 117-122, 133ff., 162, 185, 207, 237, 260, 270, 272

Hail Mary (Ave Maria), 205, 248 Han Lin 韓霖 (1601–1649), 48, 126, 329 hanren 含忍 (fortitude), 237 handkerchief with Jesus’ facial imprint (Mandylion, pa 帕), 260 Hangzhou 杭州 (Wulin 武林), 65, 66, 84, 85, 88, 109, 123, 217, 239 He Qiaoyuan 何喬遠 (1558–1632), 112 Heguanzi 鶡冠子, 136 heji 和己 (harmony with one’s self), 223 Henan 河南, 70 heren 和人 (harmony with people), 223 Heshang wang 和尚王 (King of Monks), 51 hetian 和天 (harmony with Heaven [i.e., God]), 223 Heaven (tian 天), 133-143, 148-150; 152 (round –), 153, 154 (twelve/ten/nine –s) Hell (diyu 地獄), 68-72, 98, 100, 182-189, 193, 197-204, 226, 235, 242, 272-273 Heraclius (ca. 575–641), 261 n. 17, 264 heresy, 249-256 heteroglossia, 3, 33 hierolatry, 261, 262 Holy Casket (shenggui 聖匱), 313 Holy Cross (shengjia 聖架), 261265, 271, 275, 329; 248, 263, 293, 307, 308, 325 (sign of the – [shenghao 聖號]) Holy Doctrine (shengjiao 聖教), 47, 85

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Holy Mass (zhanli 瞻禮), 94, 105, 129, 230, 305-313, 322-323; see also mass liturgy (misa 彌撒) Holy Mother (shengmu 聖母), 125, 196, 204-210; 247, 285-289 (biblical episodes on the –); see also Association of the –, Rosary, Virgin Mary Holy Oil, 293, 313 Holy Salt, 293, 313 Holy Scriptures (Shengjing 聖經), 248 Holy Spirit (Spiritus Sanctus), 195197, 237, 272, 287 Holy Trinity, 97, 194-197, 217 Holy Water (shengshui 聖水), 68, 125, 250, 263, 291, 295, 307, 313 hongzhong 洪鐘 (large bell), 37 Host (Shengti 聖體), 105, 230, 291 n. 92, 305-312; see also Eucharist Hu Zhi 胡直 (1517–1585), 60 huashen 化身 (nirmānakāya), 195 Hua–Yi tu 華夷圖 (Maps of China and Barbarian Countries), 155, 259 Hua–Yi zhi bian 華夷之辨 (Chinese– barbarian distinction), 3, 52 Huanyou quan 寰有詮 (Explanation of the Universe, by F. Furtado), 153, 186 Huang Benyu 黃賁宇, 179, 186 Huang Jingfang 黃景昉 (1596– 1662), 112 Huang Mingqiao 黃鳴喬, 101, 103 n. 105 Huang Wendao 黃問道, 222 Huang Youheng 黃幼衡, 318 n. 176 Huang Zhen 黃貞, 100, 202, 321

399

Huang Zichen 黃紫宸, 222 Huangdi 黃帝 (Yellow Emperor), 186 Hui Tzu (Huizi) 惠子, 26-27 Huihui 回回 (calendar), 144,147 Huineng 惠能 (638–713), 27 Huizui yaozhi 悔罪要旨 (Essential Points on Contrition, by G. Aleni) 93-94, 299, 334-335 human nature (xing 性), 70, 89, 191, 210, 217-222, 226, 235, 237, 255, 339 hunling 魂靈, see rational soul hunpei 婚配, 291 n. 92, 315; see also marriage ceremony huo zui yu tian, wusuo dao ye 獲罪 於天，無所禱也 (He who offends the Heaven has no means to pray for [forgiveness]), 252 huowen 或問 (someone asks), 6 huoyue 或曰 (someone says), 6

I icon(s), Catholic, 204, 209, 267, 271, 276-277, 325 idol worship, 99, 102, 115, 199, 208, 228, 250, 253, 256, 262263, 316, 339 Ignatius of Loyola, Saint (Yinajue 意 納爵, 1491–1556), 79-83, 87, 185, 201, 233-234, 239, 245, 246; 239-240 (Ignatian spiritual exercises) images, Catholic, 269-290 imprimatur, 112 incarnation ( jiangsheng 降生), 9697, 189-197, 207, 230, 251 inferno (yinfu’ernuo 因弗耳諾; yinfunuo 咽咈諾), 68, 197

400

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

innate goodness (liangshan 良善), 218, 229 innate knowledge (liangzhi 良知), 5, 45, 219, 239, 273-274 intercalary months and years, 145146; see also calendar

J Jade Emperor (Yuhuang Dadi 玉皇 大帝), 150, 162, 253 Jerusalem, 97, 264, 275 Jesuits, passim, esp. 12-16, 22-24, 41 (research on Jesuits), 73-75 (changing identities), 109-113 (print culture), 140-142 (Western astronomy), 144-151 (calendar), 151-154 (cartography), 162-166 (Aristotelian natural philosophy vs. Four Elements), 211-212 (human soul), 217-222 (human nature), 224-225 (God as the Great Father-Mother), 229-234 (love and benevolence), 292-295 (baptism), 297-298 (concubinage), 315-316 (marriage), 321-324 (funerals) Jesus (Yesu 耶穌), 34, 49, 96-97, 191, 194, 196, 209, 241 242, 250, 260, 261, 271, 274-286, 294-295, 310, 313, 330, 340; see also Lord of Heaven ji 機 (opportunity), 272 jihan 記含, see memory Jihe yaofa 幾何要法 (Essential Methods of Geometry, by G. Aleni) 96 jiren 畸人 (extraordinary man), 6062, 73, 91 Jiren shipian 畸人十篇 (Ten Chapters of an Extraordinary Man, by M. Ricci), 58-62, 69, 73, 90-91

jishi 畸士 (extraordinary scholar), 60 jia 甲 (one of the Heavenly Stems), 288 Jia Muyi 賈宜睦, see Gravina, Girolamo de Jiading 嘉定, 10, 11 Jiali 家禮 (Family Rituals, by Zhu Xi), 314, 317, 323, 327-328 Jianning 建寧, 77, 104, 106, 127 jianping yi 簡平儀 (astrolabe), 156157 Jianyang 建陽, 110, 295 jianyi 奸夷 (fraudulent barbarians), 100 jianzhen 堅振 (confirmation), 291 n. 92 Jiang Dejing 蔣德璟 (1593–1646), 97 n. 84, 101, 337 Jiang Shaoshu 姜紹書, 268 jiangji 將祭 (preparatory service), 307 Jiangnan 江南, 100, 105 jiangsheng 降生, see incarnation Jiangxi 江西, 105 jiangxue 講學 (lecturing), 83 Jiangzhou 絳州, 84 jiao 角 (a Chinese constellation), 120 jiao 醮 (Daoist ritual), 302 jiaoyi 狡夷 (deceitful barbarians), 203 Jiaoyou lun 交友論 (On Friendship, by M. Ricci), 110, 266 jiaozhu 教主 (patriarch), 264 Jin Nige 金尼閣, see Trigault, Nicolas Jin’an 晉安 (Fuzhou 福州), 8, 127

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Jincheng shuxiang 進呈書像 (Books and Pictures Presented to the Emperor, by A. Schall), 267, 275 Jinjiang 晉江, 111, 123 Jinjiao lingxi jielu 進教領洗捷錄 (A Brief Summary on Baptism to Enter the Religion, by F. Peris), 293 Jingjiao 景教, see Nestorianism Jingjiao liuxing Zhongguo bei song zhengquan 景教流行中國碑頌正 詮 (Lapidary Eulogy on the Propagation of Nestorianism in China: A Complete Annotation, by M. Dias) 102 Jingjiao tang 景教堂 (Jingjiao Church), 109 Jingjiao tang yin 景教堂印 (Seal of Jingjiao Church), 113 jingqi 精氣 (vital energy), 167-170; see also qi 氣 jingshui 淨水 ( pure water), 291; see also Holy Water jingtian 敬天 (reverence to heaven), 66, 223 n. 139 jingzhu 敬主 (respect the Lord), 223 jingzuo 靜坐 (quiet sitting), 240, 244 Job (biblical figure), 34 John the Apostle, Saint, 230, 277, 278 John the Baptist, Saint, 97, 275, 287, 294, 310 Jorge, Marcos, S.J. (1524–1571), 63 Judea (Rudeya 如德亞), 186-187, 264, 310 jushi 居士 (scholar layman), 294 juehun 覺魂, see sentient soul jueyu 絕欲 (abstinence), 237 juncheng 郡丞 (Vice Prefect), 244 junzi 君子 (superior man), 241

401

K Kaifeng 開封, 70, 84 kanyu 堪輿, see geomancy karma, 235, 299 ke 刻 (Chinese time unit), 157 ke 客 (guest), 179 Ke Shifang 柯士芳, 132 n. 220 Ke Zhenfu 柯楨符, 226 keji fuli 克己復禮 (subdue the self and return to propriety), 218, 221, 222 Kezuo zhuiyu 客座贅語 (Idle Talks with Guests, by Gu Qiyuan), 109, 268 Kongji gezhi 空際格致 (Studies on Phenomena in the Sublunar Region, by A. Vagnone) 153, 167, 335 kouduo 口鐸 (oral instructions), 8, 31, 37 Kouduo richao 口鐸日鈔 (Diary of Oral Admonitions, comp. Li Jiubiao), 1, 4, 7-12 (significance), 18-24 (studies), 31-39 (generic features), 64, 80, 81, 85 n. 35, 92, 94, 95, 96, 117-121 (Li Brothers), 123-125 (Zhang Geng), 128-132 (compilation), 189-197 (Christological doctrines), 213217 (body–soul relation), 248-249 (Christian scriptures), 269-273 (Christian pictures), 318-321 (concubinage), 324-325 (ancestral rituals) Kuangyi 況義 (Allegories, by N. Trigault and Zhang Geng), 126 kun 坤 (earth), 214 Kunyu tushuo 坤輿圖說 (Illustrated Explanation of the Entire World, by F. Verbiest) 153

402

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Kunyu wanguo quantu 坤與萬國全 圖 (Complete Map of Ten Thousand Countries of the World, by M. Ricci) 143 n. 31, 153 n. 68, 157, 158, 159 n. 88

L Lai Shizhang 賴士章, 200, 250, 253, 295 Laozi 老子, 5, 25, 251 Last Judgment, 182, 197, 200, 269 latitude(s), 157, 259 Ledgers of Merits and Demerits (gongguo ge 功過格), 107, 252 li 理, see principle li’ai 利愛 (profit-seeking love), 230231 li’ai 理愛 (rational love), 231 Li Andang 利安當, see Caballero, Antonio de Santa Maria Li Cai 李裁, 117 Li Dai 李戴 (ca. 1531–1607), 61 Li Jiubiao 李九標, 9-10, 31, 34-35 (compilation of Kouduo richao), 117-122 (life and works), 130 (editorial principles of Kouduo richao), 133-144 (on astronomical topics), 151-162 (on the shape of the earth) Li Jiugong 李九功 (d. 1681), 121123, 186, 202, 223, 298 Li Leisi 利類思, see Buglio, Lodovico Li Madou 利瑪竇, see Ricci, Matteo Li Shiyan 李士彥, 226 Li Sixuan 李嗣玄 (? –1661), 77, 79, 89, 90. 104, 107, 115, 122 Li Yifen 李奕芬 (ca. 1635–1706), 122

Li Yufan 黎玉范, see Morales, Juan Bautista Li Zhi 李贄 (1527–1602), 294 Li Zhizao 李之藻 (1569–1630), 61, 147, 298 Liji 禮記 (Book of Rites), 74 n. 133, 266 n. 35, 309, 313 n. 160 Lisu mingbian 禮俗明辨 (Clear Discussion on Rituals and Customs, by Li Jiugong), 122, 254 Lixiu yijian 勵修一鑑 (Mirror to Encourage Self-cultivation, by Li Jiugong) 116, 117 n. 152, 121, 122, 202, 223, 263, 298 liyi fenshu 理一分殊 (one principle embodied in many), 199 lianqing diyu 煉清地獄, see purgatory lianzui yu 煉罪獄 (Jail for Purging the Sins), 198 liangshan 良善, see innate goodness liangzhi 良知, see innate knowledge Liaodong 遼東, 175, 254 liaowusi 了無私, see Deus liexiu tian 列宿天, see firmament limbus (linmo 臨膜; lingbo 靈薄), 68, 198 n. 51 lin 鄰 (neighbor), 230 Lin Bendu 林本篤, see Mattos, Bento de Lin Chengkong 林承孔, 214 Lin Eryuan 林爾元, 132 n. 220 Lin Feng 林鳳, 51 Lin Jun 林焌, 174 n. 138 Lin Junji 林君及, 185 Lin Yijun 林一儁, 8, 34, 37, 127, 128, 198, 216, 230, 232 Lin Youqi 林有杞, 141 Lin Yunqing 林雲卿, 170, 221, 303

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Lin Zhao’en 林兆恩 (1517–1598), 58 n. 86 Lin Zizhen 林子震, 178 linmo 臨膜, see limbus ling Shengti 領聖體 (receive the Host), 307, 310; see also Eucharist Lingbao tianzun 靈寶天尊 (deity), 253 lingbo 靈薄, see limbus lingcai 靈才 (spiritual talent), 211; see also rational soul linghun 靈魂 (spirit and soul), 71, 211, 212, 217; see also rational soul Linghun daoti shuo 靈魂道體說 (On Human Soul and the Ultimate Way, by N. Longobardi), 211 lingming 靈明 (spiritual intelligence), 169 lingtai 靈臺 (spiritual platform), 212; see also rational soul lingxing 靈性 (spiritual nature), 211, 217; see also rational soul Lingyan lishao 靈言蠡勺 (A Ladle of Words on the Soul, by F. Sambiasi) 211, 216 Liu Bei 劉備 (161–223), 254 Liu Boxiu 劉伯秀, 185, 196 Liu Liangbi 劉良弼, 34, 219 Liu Yiqing 劉義慶 (403–444), 44 Liu Yingchong 劉應寵, 260 Long Huamin 龍華民, see Longobardo, Niccolò Longjiang 龍江, see Haikou 海口 Longwu 隆武 (Prince Tang), 104105 Longxun 龍浔, see Dehua 德化 longitude(s), 161, 259

403

Longobardo, Niccolò, S.J. (Long Huamin 龍華民, 1565–1655), 127, 147, 208, 274 Lord Guan (Guan Yu 關羽, also Guan Gong 關公), 22, 102, 115, 253, 254, 256 Lord of Heaven (Tianzhu 天主), 4849 (- and human soul), 56-57 (Chinese equivalents for -), 148151, 182-204 (omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence), 223-234 (as the Great FatherMother) 299-305 (- and confession), 305-313 (- and the Eucharist) Lord Wenchang 文昌, 136 n. 8, 174, 253 Lord’s Prayer (Tianzhu jing 天主經), 248, 308 love, see ai 愛, li’ai 利愛, li’ai 理愛, qing’ai 情愛, ren’ai 仁愛, xi’ai 習愛 Lu Ande 盧安德, see Rudomina, Andrzej Lu Jiuyuan 陸九淵 (1139–1192), 44, 255 Lu Riman 魯日滿, see Rougemont, François de Lu Xiyan 陸希言 (1630–1704), 11 Lucifer (Luqifu’er 輅齊弗兒), 203204 Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋 (Master Lü’s Spring and Autumn Annals), 191-192 Lü zushi 呂祖師 (Patriarch Lü, i.e., Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓), 252 “Lun kanyu” 論堪輿 (Discussion on Geomancy), 179 Lunheng 論衡 (Discussions on Balance, by Wang Chong), 160

404

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Luo Mingjian 羅明堅, see Ruggieri, Michele Luo Ruwang 羅如望, see da Rocha, João Luo Yagu 羅雅谷, see Rho, Giacomo Luzon, 51 lunhui 輪迴 (saṃsāra), see reincarnation Lunyu 論語 (Analects of Confucius), 9, 42-43, 115, 236, 266, 306, 334, 338 luopan 羅盤, see compass

M Ma Chengxiu 馬呈秀, 84 mademadijia 馬德馬第加 (mathematica), 150 madilimoniu 瑪地利摩紐 (matrimonium), 291 n. 92, 315; see also marriage ceremony Mashayihei 馬沙亦黑 (Muhammad Shaikh), 147 Macau, 84, 100, 101, 104 Madre de Dios, Francisco de la, O.F.M., 99 Mahābrahmā, see Da fantian Wang 大梵天王 Mandylion, see handkerchief with Jesus’ facial imprint Manila, 50-51, 99, 101, 249 maodishimo , see baptism maps, 65, 84, 143, 151-161, 257259, 275 Marian devotions, 204-209; 4, 206, 257, 284-290 (Marian images); see also Association of the Holy Mother marriage ceremony, 315-321

Mary, see Holy Mother, Virgin Mary mass liturgy (misa 彌撒), 94, 105, 305 Master Ai (Ai xiansheng 艾先生), see Aleni, Giulio Mattos, Bento de, S.J. (Lin Bendu 林 本篤, 1600–1652), 95, 96, 99, 116 n. 149, 118, 185, 196-197, 216-217, 230, 237, 303-304 Maximilian I of Bavaria (1573–1651), 275 medicine (spiritual), 106-107, 233, 302-303 medieval Europe, 139, 233, 260, 262, 274 meditation, 80, 239, 240, 274, 301; see also contemplation Meise 梅瑟, see Moses memory ( jihan 記含), 197, 216-217 Mencius (Mengzi 孟子, 372–289 B.C.E.), 42, 51, 53-54, 97, 166, 220, 239, 250, 320; see also Mengzi Meng Ruwang 孟儒望, see Monteiro, João mengduo 蒙鐸 (mundo), 69 Mengzi 孟子, 53, 74 n. 133, 90, 125, 320 meteorology, 170-172 Middle Kingdom (Zhongguo 中國), 3, 4, 13, 68, 91, 136, 154, 191, 194, 259 Mige 彌格 (Michele), 68, 69 misa 彌撒, see mass liturgy Misa jiyi 彌撒祭義 (Explication of the Sacrifice in the Mass, by G. Aleni) 94, 105, 113, 305-309, 311, 312

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Minzhong Tianzhu tang 閩中天主堂 (church), 111 mind (xin 心), 5 n. 12, 219, 227, 234; see also Xinxue mingde 明德 (bright virtue), 211 mingwu 明悟 (understanding), 216217 Monteiro, João, S.J. (Meng Ruwang 孟儒望, 1602–1648), 127, 194 n. 37 Moon, 137, 142-144 Morales, Juan Bautista, O.F.M. (Li Yufan 黎玉范, 1597–1664), 99 morality books (shanshu 善書), 106, 107, 252 Moretus, Joannes (1543–1610), 272 Moses (Meise 梅瑟), 105, 202, 265 Motel, Jacques, S.J. (Mu Diwo 穆迪 我, 1619–1692), 293

N Nadal, Jerónimo, S.J. (1507–1580), 97 n. 83, 267, 274-289 Nan Huairen 南懷仁, see Verbiest, Ferdinand Nanchang 南昌, 54, 55, 153 Nanhai Guanyin 南海觀音 (Guanyin of the South Sea), 209 Nanhua 南華 Temple, 27 Nanjing 南京, 65, 101, 104, 205, 251, 263, 274, 297, 313; 84, 88 (anti-Christian persecutions in –) Nanzhong 南中, 61 natural philosophy (Aristotelian), 4, 6, 48, 59, 82, 139, 162, 163, 170, 175-176, 188 Neo-Confucianism, 5, 44-45, 53, 5657, 60, 74 n. 133, 91, 115, 145146, 158, 168-169, 187-188, 219,

405

221, 227, 234-235, 240, 273-274, 328 Nestorianism (Jingjiao 景教) 102103, 124, 187 New Testament, 97, 224 n. 143, 230 n. 165, 278 n. 77 nianzhu 念珠, see Rosary Nie Boduo 聶伯多, see Canevari, Pietro ning 凝 (concentration), 170 Ningde 寧德, 99 Nü Ying 女英, 320 Nüwa 女媧, 186 nuobisi guoguo 諾比斯郭國 (nobis quoque), 307; see also prayer(s)

O Old Testament, 198 n. 51, 307 original sin ( yuanzui 原罪), 53, 71, 89, 189, 218, 220-221, 245, 255, 298 Our Lady (Mary), 208-209 Ouyi Zhixu 藕益智旭 (1599–1655), 45

P pa 帕, see handkerchief with Jesus’ facial imprint palm trees, 271, 272 Pantoja, Diego de, S.J. (Pang Diwo 龐迪我, 1571–1618), 183, 187, 195, 204, 220-221, 231, 237, 242 n 209, 265, 297, 320 Pangzi yiquan 龐子遺詮 (Notes Left by Master Pang, i.e., D. de Pantoja), 183, 187, 189, 195, 204, 220, 292 paper money, 227-228, 328-329 Parma, 78, 83

406

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Paul the Apostle, Saint, 202, 238 Pax Domini (basi duomini 罷斯鐸彌 尼, peace of the Lord), 308 Peris, Francisco [de la Concepción], O.F.M. (Bian Fangshi 卞芳世, 1635–1701), 293 Peter the Apostle, Saint, 34, 242 Pharisee ( falisai’e 發利塞俄), 241 philosophia ( feilusuofeiya 斐錄所費 亞), 46, 82, 150 Pixie ji 辟邪集 (Collection for Refuting Heresies), 84 Pixue 譬學 (The Science of Comparison, by A. Vagnone), 267 pinji 品級 (Holy Orders), 291 n. 92 planet(s), 142 n. 29, 143, 174-176, 197 Plutarch (46–120), 139 poenitentia (bainidengjiya 白尼登濟 亞), see confession polar days and nights, 119, 157-158 polygamy, 72, 100, 297-298, 319320; see also concubinage pope(s), 50, 150, 197, 299, 300 Pope Clement VIII (1536–1605), 99 Pope Gregory XIII (1502–1585), 146 Pope Paul III (1468–1549), 79 Pope Sixtus V (Xishidu 西師都, 1520–1590) 49, 314 prayer(s), 94 n. 64, 205, 206, 248, 263, 296, 307-308, 311-312 predestination (qianding 前定), 184185 pride, cardinal sin of, 241-242, 251 Prima Primaria, 205; see also Associations of the Holy Mother, Marian devotions Prime Matter ( yuanzhi 元質), 165, 188

principle (li 理), 5 n. 12, 51-53, 57, 91-92, 145, 169, 211, 219, 328 printing, 72, 106-113, 127, 276 Ptolemaic cosmology, see cosmology Pure Land (Buddhist school), 48, 70 purgatorio (bugeduolüe 不革多略), 68, 197 purgatory (lianqing diyu 煉清地獄), 198 n. 51, 202, 269 Putian 莆田 (Puyang 莆陽), 105, 118, 235, 318 Pythagoras (Bitawola 閉他臥剌, 580–500 B.C.E.), 69

Q qi 氣 (vital force), 57, 64, 136, 166170, 218, 219 qi 器 (instrument), 135 Qike 七克 (Seven Overcomings, by D. de Pantoja), 201, 221, 231, 237, 242 n. 209, 297 qide 七德, see seven virtues qiying 氣盈 (surplus vital force), 145 qian 乾 (heaven), 214 Qian Qianyi 錢謙益 (1582–1664), 294 qianding 前定, see predestination Qiankun ti yi 乾坤體義 (On the Structure of Heaven and Earth, by M. Ricci), 143, 163, 164, 167 qianrang 謙讓 (modesty), 237 qin 琴 (music instrument), see clavichord qin yu Tianzhu zhi shi 勤於天主之 事 (persistence in service to the Lord of Heaven), 237 Qinyi Church 欽一堂, 109-113

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

qing’ai 情愛 (emotional love), 230231 qingtan 清談 (pure talks), 44 Qu Ximan 瞿西滿, see Cunha, Simão da Qufu 曲阜, 42 quanzhi 全知 (omniscience), 184 Quanzhou 泉州, 95, 99, 100, 102103, 111, 118, 123, 124, 206, 324 question-and-answer form, 19, 6364, 70, 97, 179, 334-335; see also dialogism

R rational soul (linghun 靈魂 / hunling 魂靈 / lingcai 靈才 / lingxing 靈 性), 171, 211-217 Resuo , 49; see also Jesus redemption, 93, 192, 217, 230, 264, 265, 271, 275 reincarnation (saṃsāra, lunhui 輪迴), 49, 68, 70, 100 n. 96, 185, 211 relics, Christian –, 260, 263 ren 仁 (humaneness/benevolence), 25, 53, 229-232 Ren hui 仁會, see Society of Benevolence ren’ai 仁愛 (benevolent love), 230234, 237 renxue 人學 (humanist learning), 82 n. 19, 114, 151 Renaissance, 33, 45-46, 62, 276 repentance, 81, 295, 298, 303-304, 308; see also donghui 動悔 and tonghui 痛悔 resurrection (of Jesus), 49, 80, 97, 194, 239 retribution, 59, 70, 91, 167-168

407

rhetorica (rhetoric), 82-83 rhetorical reasoning, 53, 183, 193, 194, 199, 253, 295, 318, 319 Rho, Giacomo, S.J. (Luo Yagu 羅雅 谷, 1593–1638), 113, 147, 201202, 205, 233 Ricci, Matteo, S.J. (Li Madou 利瑪 竇, 1552–1610), 5-6 (attitude towards Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism), 27 (as a Western monk), 54-62 (representative dialogic works), 65 (relationship with Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao), 73 (as a Western scholar), 151155 (on the round shape of the earth), 164-165 (on the Four Elements), 166-167 (on the Chinese concept qi), 173 (on the Chinese term Shangdi), 208-209 (on competition of Mary and Guanyin), 224-225 (use of the Chinese term da fumu) da Rocha, João, S.J. (Luo Ruwang 羅如望, 1565–1623), 62-64, 68, 71, 205-206, 274-276, 285-286, 297-298, 305 Roman College, 78, 83 Rome, 49, 78, 83, 152, 154, 197, 205, 259, 260, Rosary (nianzhu 念珠), 98, 126, 205, 206, 274, 301 Rougemont, François de, S.J. (Lu Riman 魯日滿, 1624–1676), 109, 309 n. 149 rouyan 肉眼 (eyes of the body), 310 Rudeya 如德亞, see Judea Rudomina, Andrzej, S.J. (Lu Ande 盧安德, 1596–1631), 118, 141, 151, 156, 160-162, 230, 262, 265-266, 269-274

408

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Ruggieri, Michele, S.J. (Luo Mingjian 羅明堅, 1543–1607), 47-50, 57, 68, 149, 152-153, 183, 205, 211, 257, 291

S Sacerdote (saze’erduode 撒責爾鐸 德, siduo 司鐸), 24, 37 n. 23, 299; see also duode sacraments (sagelemengduo 撒格勒 孟多, shagemianduo 唦㗆喕哆), 49, 248, 291-292 saze’erduode 撒責爾鐸德, see Sacerdote Salvatore Mundi (image), 276 Sambiasi, Francesco, S.J. (Bi Fangji 畢方濟, 1582–1649), 207-208 saṃsāra (lunhui 輪迴), see reincarnation san 散 (dispersal), 170 sanchou 三仇, see Three Enemies sandusi 三都斯 (sanctus), 307 sangong 三功, see Three Merits sanqing 三清, see Three Pure Ones Sanshan lunxue ji 三山論學紀 (Record of Discussions on Learning in Sanshan, by G. Aleni) 2, 8991, 114, 167, 181, 191, 215, 218, 225, 338 sanshen 三身 (Trikāya), see Three Bodies of Buddha sansi 三司, see Three Faculties Sanyi jiao 三一教, see Teaching of Three in One Sanzi jing 三字經 (The ThreeCharacter Classic) 105 scholasticism, 4, 15, 82, 92, 163, 169, 188, 190, 200, 216, 239, 293

Schreck, Johann T., S.J. (Deng Yuhan 鄧玉涵, 1576–1630), 147, 258 sciences, Western, see Western Learning (Xixue) self-cultivation (self-perfection), 8, 73, 185, 218, 220, 221, 235, 237, 253, 272, 339 self-examination (xingcha 省察), 234-236, 239-240, 256, 301-303 self–other relation (complex/paradox), 3-4, 24-29, 37-41, 52-54, 56, 59, 67, 73-75, 142, 144, 159, 180, 189, 194, 200, 216, 222, 229, 256, 320, 330, 335-336, 341 seng 僧 (monk), 6, 47, 54-55, 73, 249, 336 senghuang 僧皇 (Emperor of Monks), 49 sengshi 僧師 (monk master), 51-52, 73 sentient soul ( juehun 覺魂), 171, 211, 212-213 Seven Sacraments, 71, 79, 248, 291, 305, 314 seven virtues (qide 七德), 221, 237, 248 Schall von Bell, Johann Adam, S.J. (Tang Ruowang 湯若望, 1591– 1666), 99, 140-141, 143, 148,149, 275 shagemianduo 唦㗆喕哆, see sacraments shanshu 善書, see morality books shanzhong 善終 (good death), 96, 181 Shang 商 dynasty, 56, 191 Shang rong yu Tianzhu, xia he yu shanren 上榮於天主, 下和於善

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

人 (Glorify the Lord of Heaven Above, Harmonize the Virtuous People Below), 284 Shangdi 上帝 (Lord-on-High), 56-57, 105, 125, 173, 252 Shangshu 尚書, 56, 92, 173, Shaozhou 韶州, 27 shecai 捨財, see charity Shen, Carolus (Shen Jialu 沈加琭), 122 Shennong 神農, 186, 187 Shen Que 沈㴶 (1565–1624), 84-86, 88 shenduo 身鐸 (behavioral instructions), 8, 37 shenmu 神目 (eyes of the spirit), 310 Shensi lu 慎思錄 (Record of Meditations, by Li Jiugong), 122, 223 shenti 神體 (spiritual substance), 215 sheng 生 (life/to beget), 197 Sheng Ruosefa shimo 聖若瑟法始末 (Life of Saint Josaphat, by N. Longobardo), 127 shenggui 聖匱 (Holy Casket), 263 n. 26 shenghao 聖號, see Holy Cross shenghui 聖會 (Sacred Society), 81 shenghun 生魂, see vegetative soul shengjia 聖架, see Holy Cross Shengjiao 聖教, see Holy Doctrine Shengjiao xinzheng 聖教信證 (Evidence of the Sacred Teaching, by Zhang Geng and Han Lin), 126 Shengjiao yaoli liuduan 聖教要理六 端 (Six Essential Doctrines of the Sacred Religion, by F. de Rougemont), 292

409

Shengjiao yuanliu 聖教源流 (The Origin and Development of the Holy Doctrine, by Zhu Yupu), 70-72 Shengjing 聖經, see Holy Scriptures Shengjing zhijie 聖經直解 (Literal Explanations of the Sacred Scriptures, by M. Dias), 12, 328-329 Shengmeng ge 聖夢歌 (Song of St. Bernard’s Dream, by G. Aleni) 98, 110, 111, 338 Shengmu 聖母, see Holy Mother Shengmu hui 聖母會, see Association of the Holy Mother Shengmu jing 聖母經, see Ave Maria/Hail Mary Shengmu jing jie 聖母經解 (Exegesis of Ave Maria, by G. Rho), 205 Shengmu lingbao hui 聖母領報會, see Sodality of Mary’s Annunciation Shengmu meigui jing shiwu duan tuxiang 聖母玫瑰經十五端圖像 (Fifteen Images of the Holy Mother’s Rosary, by G. Aleni) 98, 126, 206, 338 Shengmu xingshi 聖母行實 (Life of the Holy Mother, by A. Vagnone), 110, 113, 205, 207 shengren 聖人 (sage/saint), 80-81, 90, 201 shengshi 聖史 (saint historians), 277 shengshui 聖水, see Holy Water Shengshui jiyan 聖水紀言(Recorded Words [in the Church] of the Holy Water, by Yang Tingyun), 66, 84 Shengti 聖體, see Host Shengti yaoli 聖體要理 (Compendium of the Eucharist, by G.

410

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Aleni), 64, 105, 292, 311-312, 334 Shengxi guiyi 聖洗規儀 (Rules and Procedure of the Sacred Liturgy of Baptism, by J. Motel), 293 shi 士 (scholar), 6, 54, 55 shi 師 (teacher/master), 55, 62, 71 shi 時 (time), 80, 272 Shi Kefa 史可法 (1602–1645), 104, 105 Shi Luke 石魯可, 162, 163, 166 Shijie 十誡, see Ten Commandments Shijing 詩經, 56, 91-92, 308 Shishuo xinyu 世說新語 (A New Account of Tales of the World, by Liu Yiqing), 44 shisi ru sheng, shiwang ru cun 事死 如生, 事亡如存 (Serve the dead as if they were living, and serve the deceased as if they were present), 324 shixiang 師相 (Master Minister), 91 Shizi shan 十字山, 105 Shogun Hideyoshi (1536–1598), 51 shuaixing zhi wei Dao 率性之謂道 (To follow [human] nature is the Way), 219 Shun 舜 (sage king), 135, 202, 222, 320 shuoxu 朔虛 (Lunar Cycle), 146 Sibiliduosanduo 斯彼利多三多 (Spiritus Sanctus), 195, 197; see also Holy Spirit siduo 司鐸, see Sacerdote sike 私刻 (private printing), 108 Siku quanshu 四庫全書 (Complete Library of the Four Treasures), 108

Sima Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086), 158, 327, 328 Sinocentrism, 3-4, 15, 52, 154, 173, 194, 203 sixing 四行, see Four Elements Soarez, Cypriano, S.J. (1524–1593), 83 Society of Benevolence (Ren hui 仁 會), 85, 96 Society of Chastity (Zhen hui 貞會), 96 Society of Jesus, 78-83, 113, 205, 276; see also Jesuits Sodality of Mary’s Annunciation (Shengmu lingbao hui 聖母領報 會), 205 Song 宋 style, 112 Song nianzhu guicheng 誦念珠規程 (Rules for Reciting the Rosary, by J. da Rocha), 205, 206, 267, 274, 276, 285, 286 soul, human, see rational soul, sentient soul, vegetative soul Spiere, Pierre van, S.J. (1584–1627), 84 Su Maoxiang 蘇茂相 (1566–1630), 103, 112 Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101), 138 Sui’an 綏安, 22 sundials, 258 Sun Xueshi 孫學詩, 66

T taiji 太極, see Great Ultimate taixue 太學 (graduate from the Imperial Academy), 174 n. 138, Tang Ruowang 湯若望, see Schall von Bell, Johann Adam

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Taoyuan 桃源, 103 n. 103, 118, 119, 123, 124; see also Yongchun 永春 Tasso, Bernardo (1493–1569), 62 Teaching of Three in One (Sanyi jiao 三一教), 58, 252 telescope ( yuanjing 遠鏡), 135, 139143, 149, 180, 257, 259, 265, 267 Ten Commandments (Shijie 十誡), 47, 71, 122, 248 theology, 57, 74, 83, 114, 150-151, 181, 199, 239, 304; 68 n. 121, 82, 180, 198 n. 51, 203, 210-211, 216, 227, 231, 278 (medieval –); see also Aquinas, creation, faith, predestination, Virgin Mary Theotokos, 204 Three Bodies of Buddha (sanshen 三 身, trikāya), 195 Three Enemies (sanchou 三仇), 271 Three Faculties (sansi 三司), 216 Three Merits (sangong 三功), 223237 Three Pure Ones (sanqing 三清), 253 Three Ways, 239, 272, 340 tian 天, see Heaven Tian–Shi mingbian 天釋明辨 (Clear Discussion on Heaven [Christianity] and Buddhism, by Yang Tingyun), 66-70, 127, 195, 292, 294 tiandi yi 天地儀, see armillary sphere tiangan 天干 (Heavenly Stems), 120 tianjun 天君 (Heavenly Lord), 212 Tianli 天理 (Heavenly Principle), 5, 45, 220

411

Tianming 天命 (Mandate of Heaven), 60, 144 Tianming zhi wei xing 天命之謂性 (What Heaven has mandated is called human nature), 89, 217 tianren heyi 天人合一 (unity of heaven and man), 284 tianshen 天神, see angels tiantang 天堂 (paradise), 68 Tianwen lüe 天問略 (Sketch of Questions on Heaven, by M. Dias) 134-135, 140 n. 20, 143 Tianxia jiubian fenye renji lucheng quantu 天下九邊分野人跡路程 全圖 (The Complete Map of Allotted Fields within the Nine Borders under Heaven, together with Routes and Distances, by Cao Junyi), 259 Tianxue 天學 (Learning from Heaven), 5, 8, 35, 55-56, 61, 65-68, 73, 74, 80, 87, 113-115, 134, 179, 181, 257, 277, 338, 339 Tianxue chuhan 天學初函 (First Collection of the Learning from Heaven, by Li Zhizao), 120 n. 166, 135 Tianxue chuan’gai 天學傳概 (Summary of the Spread of the Learning from Heaven, by Huang Mingqiao) 101, 103 n. 105 Tianxue lüe yi 天學略義 (Summary of the Learning from Heaven, by J. Monteiro) 127 Tianxue zhengfu 天學證符 (Proof of Congruity of the Learning from Heaven [to Confucianism], by Zhang Geng), 125 Tianzhu 天竺 (India), 47 Tianzhu 天主, see Lord of Heaven

412

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Tianzhu jiangsheng chuxiang jingjie 天主降生出像經解 (Illustrated Explanation on the Incarnation of the Lord of Heaven, by G. Aleni), 97, 111, 206, 274, 275, 279, 283, 287-290, 338 Tianzhu jiangsheng yanxing jilüe 天 主降生言行紀畧 (Brief Record on the Speeches and Conducts of the Incarnated Lord of Heaven, by G. Aleni) 97, 111, 260, 275, 276, 277, 287, 294, 338 Tianzhu jiangsheng yinyi 天主降生 引義 (Introduction on the Incarnation of the Lord of Heaven, by G. Aleni) 96-97, 338 Tianzhu jiaoyao jielüe 天主教要解略 (Brief Explanations of Essential Doctrines of the Lord of Heaven, by A. Vagnone), 195, 291, 292, 296, 305, 315 Tianzhu jing 天主經, see Lord’s Prayer Tianzhu qinli lingxi gaojie er yaogui zhi li 天主親立領洗告解二要規 之理 (Essential Rules on Baptism and Confession as Established by the Lord of Heaven Himself, by Zhang Geng), 126, 292, 295, 304 Tianzhu shengjiao qimeng 天主聖教 啟蒙 (Rudiments on the Holy Doctrine of the Lord of Heaven, by J. da Rocha), 62-64, 68, 71, 73, 195, 213 n. 101, 292, 305 Tianzhu shengjiao sizi jingwen 天主 聖教四字經文 (Four-Character Classic of the Sacred Teaching of the Lord of Heaven, by G. Aleni) 105, 187 Tianzhu shengjiao xiaoyin 天主聖教 小引 (Brief Introduction of the Sacred Teaching of the Lord of

Heaven, by Fan Zhong), 248, 294, 296 Tianzhu shilu 天主實錄 (True Record of the Lord of Heaven, by M. Ruggieri), 5-6, 47-50, 152-153, 183, 189, 200, 211, 291 Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 (True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven, by M. Ricci) 5-6, 54-62, 91-92, 160, 166-167, 199, 211, 291, 328 “Tianzhu xiangzan” 天主像贊 (Eulogy on the Image of the Lord of Heaven, by Xu Leshan), 281 Tong Guoqi 佟國器 (d. 1684), 106 tonghui 痛悔 (bitter repentance), 303-304; see also repentance tongjie 痛解 (penitence), 291 n. 92; see also confession tongmeng 童蒙 (ignorant child), 64 Tongwen suanzhi tongbian 同文算指 通編 (Complete Collection of the Rules of Arithmetic Common to Cultures, by Ricci and Li Zhizao) 85 n. 31 Trigault, Nicolas (Jin Nige 金尼閣, 1577–1628), 65, 126 Trinity, see Holy Trinity Tushu bian 圖書編 (Compilation of Illustrations and Writings, by Zhang Huang), 155

V Vagnone, Alfonso, S.J. (Gao Yizhi 高一志, 1568–1640), 80, 167, 195, 267, 296, 299, 305, 310, 315 vegetative soul (shenghun 生魂), 171 n. 127, 212-213 Venus, 137, 142-143, 175

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Verbiest, Ferdinand, S.J. (Nan Huairen 南懷仁, 1623–1688), 13 n. 34, 148, 153, 155 Virgin Mary, 4, 26, 67, 95, 98, 194, 204-210, 257, 267, 275, 339; see also Assumption, Holy Mother virtue (de 德) 105-106, 221, 234, 237, 239, 256, 318 Visitation (of the Blessed Virgin Mary), 208, 247, 287 Vitelleschi, Muto, S.J. (1563–1645), 95-96 volition (aiyu 愛欲), 197, 216-217

W Wanguo quantu 萬國全圖 (A Complete Map of Ten Thousand Countries, by G. Aleni), 151, 154 Wanrilüe 萬日略 (Evangelium), 307; see also gospels Wanwu zhenyuan 萬物真原 (True Origin of the Ten Thousand Things, by G. Aleni), 92-93, 143 n. 34, 186, 198, 202, 215 Wang Chong 王充 (ca. 27–79), 160 Wang Linheng 王臨亨 (1548–1601), 268 Wang Pan 王泮, 47 Wang Shouren 王守仁 (1472–1529), 5, 44, 45, 53, 169, 218 n. 127, 219, 234, 239, 273 Wang Xichan 王錫闡 (1628–1682), 148 Wang Zheng 王徵 (1571–1644), 225, 258, 321 Wang Ziguan 王子觀, 214 Wang Zijian 王子薦, 156 wangdao 枉道 (wrong way), 319 wanghua 王化 (kingly rule), 4, 104

413

wei 未 (one of the twelve Earthly Branches), 120 wei 位 (person), 195 Wei Wenkui 魏文魁, 148 Wei Zhongxian 魏忠賢 (1568– 1626), 88, 89 n. 46, 101 n. 99, 104 n. 107 weishen 伪神 (fake deities), 102 wen 問 (ask), 72 Wen 文 (King of Zhou), 72, 100, 125, 202, 250-251, 321 Wenda huichao 問答彙抄 (General Notes [in the Format] of Questions and Answers, by Li Jiugong), 122, 254 Wenxing cuichao 文行粹抄 (Essential Notes from [Exemplar] Writings and Conducts, by Li Jiugong), 122 wenxue 文學 (bachelor/licentiate), 190 n. 25, 191 (Dai wenxue), 232, 235-236 (Lin wenxue), 318-319 (Huang wenxue) Weng Heling 翁鶴齡, 130 n. 215, 219 Western geography, 8, 87, 97, 151162 Western learning (Xixue 西學), 4, 82-83, 87, 92, 93, 148, 150-151, 171, 174; see also Tianxue 天學 (Learning from Heaven) Western scholar (Xishi 西士 / Xiru 西儒), 2, 6, 56, 70, 74, 82, 86, 97, 104, 136, 139, 159, 164, 211, 224-225, 229 Western Sea (Xihai 西海), 83, 85, 87, 114, 254-255, 338 Wierx, Hieronymus (1553–1619), 283

414

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

women, 209 (- and goddess worship), 304-305 (- and sacraments), 317, 321 (- and concubinage) woodblock prints, 107-108, 111-112, 128, 267, 275; see also printing world maps, see Kunyu tushuo, Kunyu wanguo quantu, Wanguo quantu wosidiya 窩斯帝亞 (hostia), see Host Wu Bozong 吳伯宗 (1334–1384), 147 wubai li 五拜禮 (five kowtow ritual), 309 n. 149 wuji 無極 (the Infinite), 51, 52, 57 Wujing 五經, see Five Classics Wulin 武林 (Hangzhou 杭州), 66, 89 Wushi yan yu 五十言馀 (Fifty Proverbs and the Remnants, by G. Aleni) 37-38, 105, 127, 266-267 wuxing 五行, see Five Agents Wuzhizi 無知子 (Master Ignorance), 66

X xi’ai 習愛 (habitual love), 231 Xichao chongzheng ji 熙朝崇正集 (Poems Exalting the Orthodox Doctrine in Our Glorious Dynasty), 92, 101, 133 n. 1, 338 xidi 洗滌 (baptism), 291 n. 92 Xifang dawen 西方答問 (Questions and Answers Regarding the West, by G. Aleni) 82, 97, 101, 111, 151, 179, 316, 318-319, 322-326, 328, 338 Xihai 西海, see Western Sea Xihai Ai xiansheng yulu 西海艾先生 語錄 (Analects of Master Ai from

the Western Sea, by Li Sixuan), 122 Xilai Kongzi 西來孔子, see Confucius from the West Ximing 西銘 (Western Inscription, by Zhang Zai), 225 Xiqin 西琴, see clavichord Xiru 西儒, see Western scholar xishan 習善 (acquired goodness), 218 Xishi 西史 (Western History), 260 Xishi 西士, see Western scholar Xishidu 西師都, see Pope Sixtus V Xixue 西學, see Western learning Xixue fan 西學凡 (Summary of Western Learning, by G. Aleni) 82-83, 114, 150-151, 181, 212 n. 98, 255, 338 Xiyi 西夷 (Western barbarians), 4; see also barbarians xiansheng 先生 (master/teacher), 6, 55, 71, 74, 77, 91, 114, 334, 336 Xianxi 仙溪 (Xianyou 仙遊), 123124 Xiantian Yi yi 先天易義 (commentary on the Yijing, by Zhang Geng), 125 xianzu 先祖 (great ancestors), 220; see also Adam and Eve Xiangguo 相國, see Grand Secretary xiao 孝, see filial piety xiao yu Zhu 孝於主 (filial piety towards the Lord of Heaven), 223 xiaolian 孝廉 (provincial graduate), 192-193, 251 (Zhou xiaolian) xiaoren 小人 (inferior man), 241 xieshuo 邪說 (evil sayings), 203 xin 信, see faith

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

xin 心, see mind xin 辛 (one of the ten Heavenly Stems), 120, 283 xinduo 心鐸 (mental instructions), 8, 37 Xinjing 信經 (Symbolum, i.e., the Creed), 186, 198, 248, 307 xintu 心圖 (pictures of the heart), 270-272 Xinxue 心學 (School of Mind) 5, 45, 169 xing 性, see human nature xingcha 省察, see self-examination xingcha tiaomu 省察條目 (list of sins for self-examination), 302 Xingling shuo 性靈說 (On Human Nature and the Soul, by A. Vagnone), 211 xingshi 形勢 (Forms and Configurations), 177 xingti 形體 (physical substance), 215 Xingxue cushu 性學觕述 (Cursory Discussion on Human Nature, by G. Aleni), 84, 212-214, 215, 216, 217, 218 xingzhui 星墜 (falling star), 92, 172174 xiuji 修己 (cultivate one’s self), 223 xiushi 修士 (learned man), 79, 245 Xiuzhen hui 修真會, see Association for Cultivating Perfection Xu, Candida (Xu Gandida 徐甘弟大, 1607–1680), 316, 322 Xu Dashou 許大授, 202-204, 313, 321 Xu Fuyuan 許孚遠 (1535–1604), 202

415

Xu Guangqi 徐光啟 (1562–1633), 8, 35, 61, 65, 84, 92, 144, 147, 148, 157, 281, 297 Xu Leshan 許樂善 (1548–1627), 281 xuanmo tuntan 玄默涒灘 (the year of 1632), 120 n. 165 xue 學 (student/disciple), 62, 71 Xue Fengzuo 薛鳳祚 (1600–1680), 148 Xue Tinglian 薛廷璉, 125 xueqi 血氣 (blood-energy), 214; see also qi 氣 Xuetang 雪堂 (Church of [Our Lady of] the Snow), 95 Xunzi 荀子, 192

Y yadilizang 亞第利藏 (attritio), see donghui 動悔 yanima 亞尼瑪, see anima Yan Hui 顏回 (521–481 B.C.E.), 43 Yan Maoyou 顏茂猷, 100 n. 93 Yan Weisheng 顏維聖, 118, 124, 200, 201, 243, 302, 320 Yan Zanhua 嚴贊化, 100, 118, 127, 165, 183, 185, 200, 203 Yanluo Wang 閻羅王 (Yama), 203204 Yanping 延平, 105, 106, 115, 178 yan yu ji 嚴於己 (austerity towards the self), 223 Yang Guangxian 楊光先 (1597– 1669), 192, 275 Yang Tingyun 楊廷筠 (1557–1627), 8, 65-70, 73, 92, 93, 103, 123, 196, 217, 226, 239-240, 254, 298, 323

416

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Yang Manuo 陽瑪諾, see Dias, Manuel yangju 陽居 (inhabitable places), 178 Yangzhou 揚州, 84 Yao 堯 (sage king), 135, 202, 222, 320 Ye Quan 葉權 (1522–1578), 268 Ye Xianggao 葉向高 (1559–1627; alias Ye Wenzhong 葉文忠), 8890, 102, 117, 167-170, 189-190, 217, 218 Yesu 耶穌, see Jesus, Lord of Heaven “Yesu Shengti daowen” 耶穌聖體禱 文 (Prayer on the Holy Body of Jesus), 311 Yesuhui shi 耶穌會士, 113 yi 乙 (one of the ten Heavenly Stems), 288 yichou 乙丑 year (1625), 89 Yidaliya 意大里亞 (Italy), 154 yide misa 依得彌撒 (Ite, missa est), 308 yifu yifu 一夫一婦 (monogamy), 315 Yijing 易經, 44, 56, 125, 173, 187 Yinajue 意納爵, see Ignatius of Loyola yiren 異人 (strange man), 61 yinfu’ernuo 因弗耳諾, see inferno yinfunuo 咽咈諾, see inferno yinguo 因果 (cause-and-effect), 185 yinsi 淫祀 (excessive sacrifice), 313

Yongchun 永春, 177, 181, 192, 200, 206, 233, 244, 246, 261; see also Taoyuan 桃源 Yongxia jie 用夏解 (Commentary on the Mengzi, by Zhang Geng), 125 Youyang zazu 酉陽雜俎 (Miscellaneous Accounts from [the Secret Works] at Youyang) 138 Yuhuang Dadi 玉皇大帝, see Jade Emperor yuji 餘跡 (residue), 299 yuwei 魚尾 (fish tail), 112 Yuan Liaofan 袁了凡 (1533–1606), 294 Yuanjiao 原教 (Examination of the Teachings), 67 yuanjing 遠鏡, see telescope Yuanjing shuo 遠鏡說 (On the Telescope, by A. Schall), 140-142 Yuanshi tianzun 元始天尊 (deity), 253 Yuanxi 遠西, see Far West Yuanxi qiqi tushuo luzui 遠西奇器圖 說錄最 (Illustrations of Marvelous Machines from the Far West, by Wang Zheng and J. Schreck), 258-259 yuanzhi 元質, see Prime Matter yuanzui 原罪, see original sin yue 曰 (say, answer), 72 Yunnan 雲南, 109 Yunqi Zhuhong 雲棲袾宏 (1535– 1615), 45

yinxue 陰穴 (burial caves), 178

Z

yinyang 陰陽, 166, 167, 176

zanhou yu 暫候獄 (Jail for Temporary Detention), 198, 202 Zen (Chan 禪)Buddhism, 5

yongku yu 永苦獄 (Jail for Eternal Torture), 198

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Zeng Shen 曾參 (505–435 B.C.E.), 234 Zhan Ruoshui 湛若水 (1466–1560), 169 zhanli 瞻禮 (lit. “to observe the ceremony,” Holy Mass), 94, 305; see also mass liturgy Zhanli kouduo 瞻禮口鐸 (Oral Admonitions for Feast Days, by F. Brancati and G. de Gravina) 11 Zhang Geng 張賡 (1570–1646), 67, 81, 84, 98, 102, 116, 123-127, 128, 206, 320, 321, 337 Zhang Huang 章潢 (1527–1628), 154 Zhang Jiu 張就 (Timothy), 123, 124-125 Zhang Mige’er yiji 張彌格爾遺蹟 (The Life of Michael Zhang), 124 Zhang Ruitu 張瑞圖 (1570?–1641), 101 Zhang Shi 張識 (Michael), 123, 124 Zhang Weishu 張維樞 (ca. 1563– 1630), 112 Zhang Zai 張載 (1020–1077), 168, 225 zhangjiaozhe 掌教者 (the one in charge of the church), 299; see also Sacerdote Zhangzhou 漳州, 94, 95, 100, 118, 119, 127, 141, 178, 187, 233, 321 Zhaoqing 肇慶, 47, 48, 257, 262, 267, 291 zhaoyang zuo’e 昭陽作噩 (the year of 1633), 120 n. 165 Zhejiang 浙江, 7, 100, 105, 123 Zhen hui 貞會, see Society of Chastity

417

Zhenzhu 真主 (True Lord), 252 Zheng Chenggong 鄭成功 (1624– 1662), 106 Zheng mingjing 鄭明經, 133 n. 1 zhengdao 正道 (correct way), 319 zhengji 正祭 (main service), 307 Zhengli chuyi 證禮芻議 (Tentative Discussions about Rituals, by Li Jiugong), 123, 326 n. 199 zhengshen 正神 (authentic deities), 102 zhi xing heyi 知行合一 (unity of knowledge and action), 235, 273 Zhifang waiji 職方外紀 (Unofficial Records on the Foreign Countries, by G. Aleni) 82, 84, 87, 151, 154 zhiren 至人 (perfect man), 61, 65 zhizhi 致知 (extension of knowledge), 138 zhongfu 終傅, see extremus unctio/Extreme Unction Zhongguo 中國, see Middle Kingdom Zhonghua xiansheng zhi xue 中華先 聖之學 (Learning of Ancient Sages in the Middle Kingdom), 87 Zhongshi 中士 (Chinese scholar), 6 Zhong–Xi jiaotong shi 中西交通史 (History of Sino–Western Cultural Exchanges, by Fang Hao), 12 Zhongyong 中庸 (Doctrine of the Mean), 89 Zhou Minglu 周鳴鹿, 192 Zhoubi 周髀 (school of astronomy), 160

418

INDEX AND GLOSSARY

Zhounian Zhanli kouduo 週年瞻禮口 鐸 (Oral Admonitions for Feast Days in a Year, by Lu Xiyan), 11 Zhu Jizuo 朱繼祚 (1593–1649), 101-102, 119, 251, 253 Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200), 5 n. 12, 125, 169, 219, 234, 306 Zhu Yijun 朱翊鈞, see Emperor Wanli 萬曆 Zhu Youjian 朱由檢, see Emperor Chongzhen 崇禎 Zhu Yujian 朱聿鍵, see Longwu 隆 武 Zhu Yupu 朱毓朴 ( fl. 1623), 70-71, 74 Zhu Zongyuan 朱宗元 (ca. 1615– 1660), 254 Zhuge Xi 諸葛羲, 118 Zhuzhi qunzheng 主制群徵 (Evidence of God’s Creation, by A. Schall), 149, 153 Zhuzi yulei 朱子語類 (Classified Conversations of Master Zhu, by Zhu Xi), 44, 138, 158 Zhuangzi 莊子, 43, 44, 60

Zhuangzi 莊子 (ca. 369–286 B.C.E.), 26-27, 166 Zisi 子思 (483–402 B.C.E.), 220, 222 Zizhi tongjian 資治通鑑 (Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government, by Sima Guang), 158 zizhuan 自專, see free will zongdong tian 宗動天 (Primum mobile), 70, 142, 159 zongjia wuyan, shimi youzheng 鬷假 無言, 時靡有爭 (Silently make offerings to the deities, without any disputation), 308 n. 148 Zongrong 總戎 (Regional Commander), 260 n. 10 Zou Yigui 鄒一桂 (1686–1772), 268 zun qin 尊親 (“Veneration and Love”), 104 Zuo Guangdou 左光斗 (1575–1625), 104 n. 107 Zuo Guangxian 左光先 (1580– 1659), 103-104 zuochan 坐禪 (sitting in meditation), 240

CHINESE SUMMARY 本書探討十七世紀前期中國與西方之間經由天主教傳教事業推動的跨文化交 流。關注的重心為意大利籍耶穌會士艾儒略（Giulio Aleni, 1582–1640）在福 建的宣教活動，以及詳細記載了他與福建士紳信徒展開宗教、文化對談的一 部八卷本著作《口鐸日抄》。他們的對談堪比宋明儒學傳統中師徒論學的知 識傳播模式。通過剖析《口鐸日抄》及其他數十種嵌入了對話元素的晚明天 主教文獻，筆者強調對話作為特別文體的內在機制，並嘗試再現一種混成的 耶、儒雙重身份和宗教生活在晚明福建形成的複雜過程。在深度文本分析及 歷史語境分析的基礎上，筆者亦將重新審視近期相關研究的主要方法論，進 而提出新的“對話式混成”的理論進路。這一進路不但充分關注此前被忽視 的對話文體在晚明天主教文獻中的重要角色，而且還有助於進一步探求耶穌 會士和儒家信徒在對話交流及日常宗教經驗中所經歷的自我—他者身份認同 情結。 筆者在本書中考察了《口鐸日抄》與晚明對話體天主教文獻中一系列相互關 聯的宗教、科技、倫理和儀式方面的議題。這些議題可以回溯到歐洲和中國各 自的文化傳統，並在十七世紀中西文化相遇的語境當中形成對撞或合流。艾儒 略有選擇地介紹以中世紀經院哲學為源頭的西學，同時又積極調適在中國社 會佔主導的皇權儒家思想。另一方面，中國信徒傾向於重新解讀（或誤讀） 儒家正統和從西方引介的天學，為的是確立其耶、儒合璧的新身份。艾儒略 與信徒弟子們也就天主教和儒家的核心教義展開對談，目標指向天主教靈修 與儒家德修相結合的自我完善。他們採用很多雙方皆可接受的觀念，例如以 儒家的孝親之情敬拜被稱為“大父母”的天主。另外，日常經歷中來自西方 和天主教的圖像（版畫、油畫、地圖等）、器物（十字架、聖物、遠鏡、西 琴等）及儀式（聖洗、彌撒、告解、喪禮等），也屬於耶穌會士與信徒對談 的重要組成部分，進而從多層次的視覺表現印證其耶、儒雙重身份。儘管當 時的反教情緒不斷增強，這些混合式的圖像、器物和儀式仍然逐漸成型，並 在地方語境中生根立基。對傳教士和福建士紳信徒而言，這種對話式的論學 兼具個體性和文化群體性。對話主義成為一種切實有效的媒介，使他們在心 想、口傳和踐行方面達成天主的普世拯救。

MONUMENTA SERICA MONOGRAPH SERIES (ISSN 0179-261X) Edited by ZBIGNIEW WESOŁOWSKI, S.V.D. • Institut Monumenta Serica I.–VIII. Out of print. IX. KARL BÜNGER, Quellen zur Rechtsgeschichte der T’ang-Zeit, Peiping 1946, Fu Jen Catholic University Press. Neue, erweiterte Ausgabe, mit einem Vorwort von Denis Twitchett. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1996, 535 S. ISBN 3-8050-0375-7 X.-XIV. Out of print. XV. CH’EN YÜAN, Western and Central Asians in China under the Mongols – Their Transformation into Chinese. Translated and annotated by CH’IEN HSING-HAI and L. CARRINGTON GOODRICH, Los Angeles 1966, 328 pp. Reprint: Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1989 (paperback). ISBN 3-8050-0243-2 XVI. YEN YÜAN, Preservation of Learning. With an Introduction on His Life and Thought. Translated by MANSFIELD FREEMAN, Los Angeles 1972, 215 pp. XVII. CLAUDIA VON COLLANI, P. Joachim Bouvet S.J. – Sein Leben und sein Werk, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1985, 269 S., Abb. ISBN 3-87787-197-6 XVIII. W. SOUTH COBLIN, A Sinologist’s Handlist of Sino-Tibetan Lexical Comparisons, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1986, 186 pp. ISBN 3-87787-208-5 XIX. GILBERT L. MATTOS, The Stone Drums of Ch’in, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1988, 497 pp., Illustr. ISBN 3-8050-0194-0 XX. Out of print. XXI. KARL-HEINZ POHL, Cheng Pan- ch’iao. Poet, Painter and Calligrapher, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1990, 269 pp., Illustr. ISBN 3-8050-0261-0 XXII. JEROME HEYNDRICKX (ed.), Philippe Couplet, S.J. (1623–1693). The Man Who Brought China to Europe. Jointly published by Institut Monumenta Serica and Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation, Leuven, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1990, 260 pp., Illustr. ISBN 3-8050-0266-1 XXIII. ANNE S. GOODRICH, Peking Paper Gods. A Look at Home Worship, Sankt Augu-

stin – Nettetal 1991, 501 pp., Illustr. ISBN 3-8050-0284-X XXIV. MICHAEL NYLAN, The Shifting Center: The Original “Great Plan” and Later Readings, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1992, 211 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0293-9 XXV. Out of print. XXVI. JULIA CHING – WILLARD G. OXTOBY, Moral Enlightenment. Leibniz and Wolff on China, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1992, 288 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0294- 7 XXVII. MARIA DOROTHEA REIS-HABITO, Die Dhāranī des Großen Erbarmens des Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara mit tausend Händen und Augen. Übersetzung und Untersuchung ihrer textlichen Grundlage sowie Erforschung ihres Kultes in China. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1993, 487 S., Abb. ISBN 3-8050-0296-3 XXVIII. NOEL GOLVERS, The “Astronomia Europaea” of Ferdinand Verbiest, S.J. (Dillingen, 1687). Text, Translation, Notes and Commentaries. Jointly published by Institut Monumenta Serica, Sankt Augustin and Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation, Leuven, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1993, 547 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0327-7 XXIX. GERD WÄDOW, T’ien-fei hsien- sheng lu. „Die Aufzeichnungen von der manifestierten Heiligkeit der Himmelsprinzessin“. Einleitung, Übersetzung, Kommentar, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1992, 374 S., Abb. ISBN 3-8050-0310-2 XXX. JOHN W. WITEK, S.J. (ed.), Ferdinand Verbiest (1623–1688): Jesuit Missionary, Scientist, Engineer and Diplomat. Jointly published by Institut Monumenta Serica, Sankt Augustin and Ferdinand Verbiest Foundation, Leuven, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1994, 602 pp., Illustr. ISBN 3-8050-0328-5 XXXI. DONALD MACINNIS, Religion im heutigen China. Politik und Praxis. Deutsche Übersetzung herausgegeben im China-Zentrum von ROMAN MALEK. Eine gemeinsame Veröffentlichung des China-Zentrums und des Instituts Monumenta Serica, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1993, 619 S. ISBN 3-8050-0330-7

MONUMENTA SERICA MONOGRAPH SERIES XXXII. PETER WIEDEHAGE, Das „Meihua xishen pu“ des Song Boren aus dem 13. Jahrhundert. Ein Handbuch zur Aprikosenblüte in Bildern und Gedichten, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1995, 435 S., Abb. ISBN 3-80500361-7 XXXIII. D.E. MUNGELLO (ed.), The Chinese Rites Controversy: Its History and Meaning. Jointly published by Institut Monumenta Serica, Sankt Augustin and The Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History, San Francisco, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1994, 356 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0348-X XXXIV. Der Abbruch des Turmbaus. Studien zum Geist in China und im Abendland. Festschrift für Rolf Trauzettel. Hrsg. von INGRID KRÜßMANN, WOLFGANG KUBIN und HANSGEORG MÖLLER, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1995, 314 S. ISBN 3-8050- 0360-9 XXXV/1-2. ROMAN MALEK (ed.), Western Learning and Christianity in China. The Contribution and Impact of Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1592– 1666), 2 vols. Jointly published by the China-Zentrum and Monumenta Serica Institute, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1998, 1259 pp. ISBN 3-8050- 0409-5. XXXVI. EWALD HECK, Wang Kangnian (1860–1911) und die „Shiwubao“. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2000, 353 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0432-X XXXVII. SECONDINO GATTA, Il natural lume de Cinesi. Teoria e prassi dell’ evangelizzazione in Cina nella Breve relatione di Philippe Couplet S.I. (1623–1693), Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1998, 241 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0404-4 XXXVIII. ZBIGNIEW WESOŁOWSKI, Lebensund Kulturbegriff von Liang Shuming (1893 –1988). Dargestellt anhand seines Werkes Dong–Xi wenhua ji qi zhexue, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1997, 487 S. ISBN 3-8050-0399-4 XXXIX. TIZIANA LIPPIELLO, Auspicious Omens and Miracles in Ancient China. Han, Three Kingdoms and Six Dynasties, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2001, 383 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0456-7 XL. THOMAS ZIMMER, Baihua. Zum Problem der Verschriftung gesprochener Sprache im Chinesischen. Dargestellt anhand morphologischer Merkmale in den bianwen aus Dunhuang, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1999, 287 S. ISBN 3-8050-0428-1 XLI. ULRICH LAU, Quellenstudien zur Land-

vergabe und Bodenübertragung in der westlichen Zhou-Dynastie (1045? – 771 v. Chr.), Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1999, 419 S., Abb. ISBN 3-8050- 0429- X XLII. TIZIANA LIPPIELLO – ROMAN MALEK (eds.). “Scholar from the West.” Giulio Aleni S.J. (1582–1649) and the Dialogue between China and Christianity, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1997, 671 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0386-2 XLIII. IRENE EBER et al. (eds.), Bible in Modern China. The Literary and Intellectual Impact, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1999, 470 pp. ISBN 3-8050- 0424-9 XLIV. DONALD DANIEL LESLIE, Jews and Judaism in Traditional China. A Comprehensive Bibliography, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1998, 291 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0418-4 XLV. JOST OLIVER ZETZSCHE, The Bible in China: the History of the Union Version or the Culmination of Protestant Missionary Bible Translation in China, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1999, 456 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0433-8 XLVI. From Kaifeng … to Shanghai. Jews in China. Ed. by ROMAN MALEK. Joint Publication of the Monumenta Serica Institute and the China-Zentrum, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2000, 706 pp., Illustr. ISBN 3-8050-0454-0 XLVII. DOMINIC SACHSENMAIER, Die Aufnahme europäischer Inhalte in die chinesische Kultur durch Zhu Zongyuan (ca. 1616–1660), Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2001, 472 S. ISBN 3-8050-0455-9 XLVIII. JEONGHEE LEE-KALISCH, Das Licht der Edlen ( junzi zhi guang). Der Mond in der chinesischen Landschaftsmalerei, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2001, 188 S. und 80 S. Abb. ISBN 3-8050- 0457-5 XLIX. SHEN WEIRONG, Leben und historische Bedeutung des ersten Dalai Lama dGe ’dun grub pa dpal bzang po (1391–1474). Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der dGe lugs pa- Schule und der Institution der Dalai Lamas, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2002, 476 S., Faksimiles. ISBN 3-8050-0469-9 L/1. ROMAN MALEK, S.V.D. (ed.), The Chinese Face of Jesus Christ, vol. 1, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2002, 391 pp. ISBN 3-8050- 0477-X L/2. ROMAN MALEK, S.V.D. (ed.), The Chinese Face of Jesus Christ, vol. 2, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2003, 480 pp. ISBN 3-8050- 0478-8

MONUMENTA SERICA MONOGRAPH SERIES L/3a. ROMAN MALEK, S.V.D. (ed.), The Chinese Face of Jesus Christ, vol. 3a, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2005, 480 pp. ISBN 3-8050- 0524–5 L/3b. ROMAN MALEK, S.V.D. (ed.), The Chinese Face of Jesus Christ, vol. 3b, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2007, xii, 429 pp. ISBN 978-3-80500542-5 L/4a. ROMAN MALEK, S.V.D. (ed.), The Chinese Face of Jesus Christ. Annotated Bibliography, vol. 4a, Sankt Augustin – Leeds 2015, 658 pp., Illustr. ISBN 978-1-9096-6268-1 LI. WU XIAOXIN (ed.), Encounters and Dialogues. Changing Perspectives on ChineseWestern Exchanges from the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2005, 406 pp., Illustr. ISBN 3-8050- 0525 -3 LII. CHEN ZHI, The Shaping of the Book of Songs. From Ritualization to Secularization, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2007, 380 pp., Illustr. ISBN 978-3-8050-0541-8 LIII/1-2. W. SOUTH COBLIN, Francisco Varo’s Glossary of the Mandarin Language. Vol. 1: An English and Chinese Annotation of the Vocabulario de la Lengua Mandarina; Vol. 2: Pinyin and English Index of the Vocabulario de la Lengua Mandarina, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2006, 1036 pp. ISBN 3-8050- 0526-1 LIV. DONALD DANIEL LESLIE – YANG DAYE – AHMED YOUSSEF, Islam in Traditional China. A Bibliographical Guide. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2006, 398 pp., Illustr. ISBN 3-8050-0533-4 LV. NICOLAS STANDAERT – AD DUDINK (eds.), Forgive Us Our Sins. Confession in Late Ming and Early Qing China, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2006, 268 pp., Illustr. ISBN 978-3-8050-0540-1 LVI/1-2. Kouduo richao. Li Jiubiao’s Diary of Oral Admonitions. A Late Ming Christian Journal. Translated, with Introduction and Notes by ERIK ZÜRCHER, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2007, 862 pp. ISBN 978-8050-0543 -2 LVII. Zurück zur Freude. Studien zur chinesischen Literatur und Lebenswelt und ihrer Rezeption in Ost und West. Festschrift für Wolfgang Kubin. Hrsg. von MARC HERMANN und CHRISTIAN SCHWERMANN unter Mitwirkung von JARI GROSSE-RUYKEN, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2007, 917 pp. ISBN 978-3-80500550-0 LVIII. CHRISTIAN MEYER, Ritendiskussionen am Hof der nördlichen Song-Dynastie 1034 –1093: Zwischen Ritengelehrsamkeit, Macht-

kampf und intellektuellen Bewegungen, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2008, 646 pp. ISBN 978-38050-0551-7 LIX. NICOLAS STANDAERT, An Illustrated Life of Christ Presented to the Chinese Emperor. The History of Jincheng shuxiang (1640), Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2007, 333 pp. ISBN 978-3-8050-0548-7 LX. The People and the Dao. New Studies in Chinese Religions in Honour of Daniel L. Overmyer. Ed. by PHILIP CLART and PAUL CROWE, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2009, 542 pp. ISBN 978-3-8050-0557-9 LXI. Miscellanea Asiatica. Mélanges en l’honneur de Françoise Aubin. Festschrift in Honour of Françoise Aubin. Edited by DENISE AIGLE, ISABELLE CHARLEUX, VINCENT GOOSSAERT and ROBERTE HAMAYON, Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2010, 812 pp. ISBN 978-38050-0568-5 LXII. JACQUES GERNET, Die Begegnung Chinas mit dem Christentum. Neue durchgesehene Ausgabe mit Nachträgen und Index, Sankt Augustin 2012, xxi, 413 S. ISBN 978-3-8050-0603-3 LXIII. URSULA TOYKA, The Splendours of Paradise. Murals and Epigraphic Documents at the Early Ming Buddhist Monastery Fahai Si, Monumenta Serica Institute, Sankt Augustin 2014, 2 vols., 990 pp., 279 colour illustr., 13 black and white illustr., ISBN 978-3-80500617-0 LXIV. BERNARD S. SOLOMON, On the School of Names in Ancient China, Sankt Augustin 2013, 161 pp. ISBN 978-3-8050- 0610-1 LXV. DIRK KUHLMANN, „Das Fremde im eigenen Lande“. Zur Historiographie des Christentums in China von Liang Qichao (1873–1929) bis Zhang Kaiyuan (geb. 1926). Sankt Augustin 2014, 452 S. ISBN 978-38050-0624-8 LXVI. PIOTR ADAMEK, A Good Son Is Sad if He Hears the Name of His Father. The Tabooing of Names in China as a Way of Implementing Social Values. Sankt Augustin – Leeds 2015, xvii, 392 pp. ISBN 978-1-9096-6269-8 LXVII. HU QIUHUA, Konfuzianisches Ethos und westliche Wissenschaft. Wang Guowei (1877–1927) und das Ringen um das moderne China. Sankt Augustin – Abingdon, Oxon 2016, xviii, 445 S. ISBN 978-1-9096-6270-4

MONUMENTA SERICA MONOGRAPH SERIES LXVIII. Rooted in Hope: China – Religion – Christianity. In der Hoffnung verwurzelt: China – Religion – Christentum. Festschrift in Honor of Roman Malek S.V.D. on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. Festschrift für Roman Malek S.V.D. zu seinem 65. Geburtstag. Edited by

BARBARA HOSTER, DIRK KUHLMANN and ZBIGNIEW WESOŁOWSKI S.V.D. Sankt Augustin – Abingdon, Oxon 2017, 2 vols., cviii, 907 pp., Illustr., Tables. ISBN 978-1-1387-1808-1

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Collectanea Serica  ANNE SWANN GOODRICH, The Peking Temple of the Eastern Peak. The Tung-yüeh Miao in Peking and Its Lore, with 20 Plates. Appendix: Description of the Tung-yüeh Miao of Peking in 1927 by JANET R. TEN BROECK. Nagoya 1964, 331 pp., Illustr.  STEPHAN PUHL, Georg M. Stenz SVD (1869– 1928). Chinamissionar im Kaiserreich und in der Republik. Mit einem Nachwort von R.G. TIEDEMANN (London): „Der Missionspolitische Kontext in Süd-Shantung am Vorabend des Boxeraufstands in China“. Hrsg. von ROMAN MALEK. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1994, 317 S., Abb. ISBN 3-8050- 0350-1  DAVID LUDWIG BLOCH, Holzschnitte. 木 刻 集 . Woodcuts. Shanghai 1940–1949. Hrsg. von BARBARA HOSTER, ROMAN MALEK und KATHARINA WENZEL-TEUBER. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1997, 249 S., 301 Abb. ISBN 3-8050-0395 -1  ROMAN MALEK (Hrsg.), „Fallbeispiel“ China. Ökumenische Beiträge zu Religion, Theologie und Kirche im chinesischen Kontext. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1996, 693 S. ISBN 3-8050- 0385-4  ROMAN MALEK (Hrsg.), Hongkong. Kirche und Gesellschaft im Übergang. Materialien und Dokumente. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 1997, 564 S., 97 Abb. ISBN 3-8050- 0397-8  ROMAN MALEK (Hrsg.), Macau: Herkunft ist Zukunft. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2000, 666 S. ISBN 3-8050-0441-9  Gottfried von Laimbeckhoven S.J. (1707– 1787). Der Bischof von Nanjing und seine Briefe aus China mit Faksimile seiner Reisebeschreibung. Transkribiert und bearbeitet von STEPHAN PUHL (1941–1997) und SIGISMUND FREIHERR VON ELVERFELDT-ULM unter Mitwirkung von GERHARD ZEILINGER. Herausgegeben von ROMAN MALEK SVD. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2000, 492 S., Abb. ISBN 3-8050-0442-7  Martino Martini S.J. (1614–1661) und die Chinamission im 17. Jahrhundert. Hrsg. von ROMAN MALEK und ARNOLD ZINGERLE. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2000, 260 S. ISBN 3-8050- 0444-3  CHRISTAN STÜCKEN, Der Mandarin des Himmels. Zeit und Leben des Chinamissionars Ignaz Kögler S.J. (1680–1746). Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2003, 440 S. ISBN 3-8050-0488-5  KARL JOSEF RIVINIUS, Das Collegium Sinicum zu Neapel und seine Umwandlung in ein Orientalisches Institut. Ein Beitrag zu seiner Geschichte. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2004, 176 S. ISBN 38050-0498-2  ELEANOR MORRIS WU, From China to Taiwan. Historical, Anthropological, and Religious Perspectives. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2004, 274 pp. ISBN 3-8050- 0514-8

 MARIÁN GÁLIK, Influence, Translation, and Parallels. Selected Studies on the Bible in China. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2004, 351 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0489-3  THORALF KLEIN und REINHARD ZÖLLNER (Hrsg.), Karl Gützlaff (1803–1851) und das Christentum in Ostasien. Ein Missionar zwischen den Kulturen. Mit einem Vorwort von Winfried Scharlau†. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2005, 375 S. ISBN 38050-0520-2  ROMAN MALEK (ed.) in connection with PETER HOFRICHTER, Jingjiao. The Church of the East in China and Central Asia. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2006, 701 pp. ISBN 3-8050-0534-2  Contextualization of Christianity in China. An Evaluation in Modern Perspective. Ed. by PETER CHEN-MAIN WANG. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2007. ISBN 978-3-8050-0547-0  Richard Wilhelm (1873–1930). Missionar in China und Vermittler chinesischen Geistesguts. Schriftenverzeichnis – Katalog seiner chinesischen Bibliothek – Briefe von Heinrich Hackmann – Briefe von Ku Hung-ming. Zusammengestellt von HARTMUT WALRAVENS. Mit einem Beitrag von THOMAS ZIMMER. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2008. ISBN 978-3-8050-0553-1  OTTO FRANKE, „Sagt an, ihr fremden Lande“. Ostasienreisen. Tagebücher und Fotografien (1888 –1901). Herausgegeben von RENATA FU-SHENG FRANKE und WOLFGANG FRANKE. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2009, ISBN 978-3- 8050-0562-3  Light a Candle. Encounters and Friendship with China. Festschrift in Honour of Angelo S. Lazzarotto P.I.M.E. Ed. by ROMAN MALEK S.V.D. and GIANNI CRIVELLER P.I.M.E. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2010, 564 pp. ISBN 978-3-8050-05 63-0  MIROSLAV KOLLÁR, Ein Leben im Konflikt. P. Franz Xaver Biallas SVD (1878–1936). Chinamissionar und Sinologe im Licht seiner Korrespondenz. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2011, 910 S., Abb. ISBN 978-3-8050-0579-1  JOHN DEFRANCIS, Die chinesische Sprache. Fakten und Mythen. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2011, 379 S., Abb. ISBN 987-3-8050-0582-1  JOHN T.P. LAI, Negotiating Religious Gaps. The Enterprise of Translating Christian Tracts by Protestant Missionaries in Nineteenth-Century China. Sankt Augustin – Nettetal 2012, 382 S., Abb. ISBN 987-3-8050-0597-5  S.-J. DEIWIKS, B. FÜHRER, T. GEULEN (eds.), Europe meets China – China meets Europe. The Beginnings of European-Chinese Scientific Exchange in the 17th Century. Sankt Augustin, 2014, viii, 224 pp., Illustr. ISBN 978-3-8050-0621-7

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MONUMENTA SERICA MONOGRAPH SERIES _________________ Vol. XLII ________________

“Scholar from the West” Giulio Aleni S.J. (1582–1649) and the Dialogue between China and Christianity Edited by TIZIANA LIPPIELLO and ROMAN MALEK Jointly published by the Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana, Brescia, and the Institut Monumenta Serica, Sankt Augustin Steyler Verlag, Nettetal 1997, 671 pp. £ 50.00. ISBN 3-8050-0386-2 The volume contains the proceedings of an international symposium organized by the Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana in Brescia, Italy, in 1994. It comprises 28 scholarly articles in English, divided into five sections. Contents ANGELO S. LAZZAROTTO, The Brescia Symposium on Giulio Aleni. Essays on the Historical Context: GIULIANO BERTUCCIOLI, Europe as Seen from China before the Arrival of the Jesuits; PIERO CORRADINI, Christian Presence in China up to the Time of Aleni; ADOLFO TAMBURELLO, Western Powers’ Politics and Missionary Action in Seventeenth Century China; MASSIMO MARCOCCHI, The Missionary Elan in the Church of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Aleni’s Background, Biography, and Rôle: MARIO COLPO, Giulio Aleni’s Cultural and Religious Background; ERIK ZÜRCHER, Giulio Aleni’s Biography; ADRIAN DUDINK, Giulio Aleni and Li Jiubiao; PAUL RULE, Giulio Aleni and the Chinese Rites Controversy; JOSEPH SHIH, Western Attention to Aleni as Documented by Bartoli and Colombel; EUGENIO MENEGON, Jesuits, Franciscans and Dominicans in Fujian: The Anti-Christian Incidents of 1637–1638. The Religious and Missionary Work of Aleni: JOHN W. WITEK, Principles of Scholasticism in China: A Comparison of Giulio Aleni’s Wanwu zhenyuan with Matteo Ricci’s Tianzhu shiyi; CLAUDIA VON COLLANI, Francisco Luján’s “Annotationes” in Giulio Aleni’s Wanwu zhenyuan; PAUL RHEINBAY, Nadal’s Religious Iconography Reinterpreted by Aleni for China; XIE BIZHEN, Aleni’s Contribution to the History of Christianity in China: The Nestorian Stele and Ancient Christian Tombs in Quanzhou; FRANCESCO D’ARELLI, Manuscript Notes of Carlo Horatii da Castorano O.F.M. and Francesco da Ottaviano O.F.M. on Some of Aleni’s Chinese Writings; MARK K. CHANG, The Impact of Aleni’s Apologetic and Pastoral Writings; LIN JINSHUI, A Tentative Study on Aleni’s Adaptation Method for Christian Evangelization; CHEN CUNFU, Trying to Assess Aleni’s Mission: Success or Failure? The Humanistic and Scientific Works of Aleni: ALBERT CHAN, The Scientific Writings of Giulio Aleni; BERNHARD HUNG-KAY LUK, Aleni Introduces the Western Academic Tradition to Seventeenth-Century China: A Study of the Xixue fan; PAN FENGCHUAN, The Dialogue on Renxue. Giulio Aleni’s Writings on the Philosophy of the Soul and the Responses of the Chinese Scholars; FEDERICO MASINI, Aleni’s Contribution to the Chinese Language; CATHERINE JAMI, Aleni’s Contribution to Geometry in China. A Study of the Jihe yaofa; ISAIA IANNACCONE, The Transition of Scientific Culture from Ricci to Aleni, Schreck, Rho, and Schall von Bell: The Xiyang xinfa lishu. Epilogue: ERIK ZÜRCHER.

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MONUMENTA SERICA MONOGRAPH SERIES _________________ Vol. LVI/1-2 ________________

Kouduo richao Li Jiubiao’s Diary of Oral Admonitions A Late Ming Christian Journal Translated, with Introduction and Notes by ERIK ZÜRCHER

Jointly published by Institut Monumenta Serica, Sankt Augustin, and Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana, Brescia Steyler Verlag, Nettetal 2007 2 vols., 862 pp., Ill., Maps, Facsimile, £ 75.00 ISBN 978-3-8050-0543-2  ISSN 0179-261X The Diary of Oral Admonitions (Kouduo richao) is an invaluable mirror of early Chinese Christianity, as it stands out as the only source that allows a glimpse of Jesuit missionary practice in China on a local level – “accommodation in action” – and of the various responses of the Chinese audience, both converts and interested outsiders. It is a compilation of some five hundred notes “about everything” made by Li Jiubiao 李九標 and other Christian literati during their conversations with Jesuit missionaries in Fujian between 1630 and 1640. These notes are arranged in chronological order and divided into eight books. The most important Western protagonist in the Diary is the Italian Jesuit Giulio Aleni (1589–1649), called “Master Ai (Rulüe 艾儒略)” in Chinese. The present study and translation of the Diary of Oral Admonitions can be seen as a companion volume to the proceedings of an international conference that was held on Aleni in his native place Brescia in 1994, also published in the Monumenta Serica Monograph Series XLII: “Scholar from the West.” Giulio Aleni S.J. (1582–1649) and the Dialogue between China and Christianity, 1997. The present work in two volumes is meant to be a tool for further research. Volume 1 presents a comprehensive introduction to the Diary and its historical context, followed by the annotated translation, both by Erik Zürcher (Leiden), a renown specialist for the study of Christianity in China. It is enhanced by illustrations, partly in colour, and maps. Volume 2 includes a facsimile of the Chinese text (reproducing a copy held in the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus), a bibliography of Chinese and Western sources as well as secondary literature, and an analytical index with glossary that will enable the reader to trace specific data in the text. Place order with your local bookseller or: https://www.routledge.com/Kouduo-richao-Li-Jiubiaos-Diary-of-OralAdmonitions-A-Late-Ming-Christian/Zurcher/p/book/9783805005432