Jesuit China missions - Books - Famous Chinese Shopping City

March 8, 2014


		1 Introduction 2 Matteo Ricci 3 Chinese Rites Controversy 4 Jesuits missionaries in China include 5 See also 6 External link

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Jesuit China missions

Wikipedia

The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China in the early modern era stands as one of the notable events in the early history of relations between China and the Western world, as well as a prominent example of relations between two cultures and belief systems in the pre-modern age. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits between the 16th century|16th and 17th century played a significant role in introducing Western world|Western knowledge, science, and culture to China. Their work laid much of the foundation for much of Christianity in China|Christian culture in Chinese society today. Members of the Jesuit delegation to China were perhaps the most influential Christianity|Christian missionaries in that country between the earliest period of the religion up until the 19th century, when significant numbers of Catholicism|Catholic and Protestantism|Protestant missions developed.

The first attempt by Jesuits to reach China was made in 1552 by Francis Xavier|St. Francis Xavier, Spanish priest and missionary and founding member of the Society. Xavier, however, died the same year on the Chinese island of Shangchuan, without having reached the mainland. Three decades later, in 1582, lead by several figures including the prominent Italy|Italian Matteo Ricci, Jesuits once again initiated Mission (Christian)|mission work in China, ultimately introducing Western science, mathematics, astronomy, and visual arts to the Emperor of China|imperial court, and carrying on significant inter-cultural and philosophy|philosophical dialogue with Chinese scholars, particularly representatives of Confucianism. At the time of their peak influence, members of the Jesuit delegation were considered some of the Emperor of China|emperor's most valued and trusted advisors, holding numerous presitigious posts in the imperial government. Many Chinese, including notable former Confucian scholars, adopted Christianity and became priests and members of the Society of Jesus. Between the 18th century|18th and mid-19th century, nearly all Western missionaries in China were forced to conduct their teaching and other activities covertly.

Many Jesuit priests, both Western-born and Chinese, are buried in the cemetery located in what is now the School of the Beijing Municipal Committee. http://www.gluckman.com/Graves.html

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Matteo Ricci

(see main article at Matteo Ricci)

Matteo Ricci (born in Macerata, Italy, October 6 1552 - died Beijing, May 11 1610) was an Italy|Italian Jesuit priest whose missionary activity in China during the Ming Dynasty marked the beginning of modern Christianity in China|Chinese Christianity. He is still recognized as one of the greatest missionaries to China. The church he built remains the largest Catholic church to survive the Cultural Revolution.

Ricci was born the year St. Francis Xavier died on the island of Shangchuan. He arrived arrived in south China in 1582, working first with fellow Jesuit, Father Alessandro Valignano, and at Beijing in 1601, where he presented himself at the Imperial court of Wanli Emperor of China|Wanli. Not only could he write in difficult classical Chinese, he was also renowned for his great understanding of Chinese culture and thought. In contrast to the approach of most of the contemporaneous missionaries--including Jesuits--in South Asia, he saw value in Chinese culture's roots within Confucius|Confucian values and concluded that Christianity had to be adapted to Chinese culture in order to take root. Ricci was the first to translate the Confucian Classics into a Western language, Latin language|Latin. In fact, the Latinized transcription "Confucius" was Ricci's own coining. He called himself a "Western Confucian" (西儒). With the introduction of Western science and state-of-the-art gadgets like an automatic clock and a world atlas, he attracted the attention of some traditional Confucian literati and imperial officials. In 1607 he and Chinese Catholic mathematician Xu Guangqi translated the first parts of the geometry text Euclid's Elements into Chinese. Ricci's work on a Chinese-language atlas of the world included coining Chinese names for European countries, many of which are still in use in Chinese today.

In his works and debates, he argued that the Confucian pratice of so-called ancestor worship was nothing more than the demonstration of remembrance and respect to ancestors: it was not a matter of paganism, that is, worship of a polytheistic divine force. His view was praised by Chinese scholars but disapproved of by other missionaries (Catholics), and, later, Protestants as well, who felt it exhibited extreme toleration of an anti-monotheistic practice. They tended to argued that ancestor worship was a cult--therefore incompatible with Christianity--and had to be prohibited. Ironically, the long debate, which ultimately--after Ricci's death--ended with the prohibition of Confucian customs on the part of Chinese Christians, finally resulted in all Christians being banned. All missionary work went underground until the Opium War in 1841, after which a massive stream of missionaries, both Catholics and the first Protestants, began to arrive in China.

Ricci introduced many aspects of China to Europe, generally in a favorable light.

He died in Beijing and his contribution was fully recognized by the Emperor Wanli. He is buried in what is now the School of Beijing Municipal Committee. Life magazine|Life magazine named Ricci one of the 100 most important people of the last millennium.

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Chinese Rites Controversy

In the early 18th century, the Chinese Rites controversy, a dispute within the Catholic Church, arose over whether Chinese folk religion rituals and offerings to the emperor constituted paganism or idolatry.

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Jesuits missionaries in China include

Jean Joseph Marie Amiot

Michel Benoist

Giuseppe Castiglione

Armand David

Alessandro Valignano

Ferdinand Verbiest

Johann Adam Schall von Bell

Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer

Caspar Castner

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