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Society of Jesus in China (view source)
Revision as of 16:28, 14 February 2014
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The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit order, was one of the chief arms of the Catholic Counter-Reformation in Europe, and one of the earliest and most prominent groups of Christian missionaries to be active in China. Individuals such as [[Matteo Ricci]] (at Court in Beijing 1582-1610) and [[Giuseppe Castiglione]] (at Court in Beijing 1715-1766) were granted prominent positions in the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] Courts respectively, and played significant roles in introducing European science, technology, art, and architecture to China.
The [[Society of Jesus]], also known as the Jesuit order, was one of the chief arms of the Catholic Counter-Reformation in Europe, and one of the earliest and most prominent groups of Christian missionaries to be active in China. Individuals such as [[Matteo Ricci]] (at Court in [[Beijing]] 1582-1610) and [[Giuseppe Castiglione]] (at Court in Beijing 1715-1766) were granted prominent positions in the [[Ming Dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing Dynasty|Qing]] Courts respectively, and played significant roles in introducing European science, technology, art, and architecture to China.
==Ming Dynasty==
The first Jesuits to arrive in China donned the robes of Buddhist monks, in an attempt to adapt to local religious costume, to present themselves as religious figures in order to better convey their teachings. They soon discovered that Buddhist monks were not well-regarded in China, in certain respects, and so adopted the robes of [[Confucianism|Confucian]] [[literati|scholars]], presenting themselves as members of a cultivated, scholarly elite. A number of Jesuits of this time, [[Matteo Ricci]] chief among them, learned Chinese, studied Chinese texts, engaged with Confucian scholars, and were thus able to gain the connections and recognition necessary to become welcomed at Court. They then introduced the Imperial Court to numerous European sciences and technologies, including astronomy, engraving, firearms, and geography, with Matteo Ricci creating the first world map in Chinese. Ricci and others were named to official appointments in the Imperial bureau of astronomy.
==Qing Dynasty==
The Jesuits managed to maintain a privileged position at Court through the violent dynastic change of [[1644]], in which the [[Manchus]] took Beijing and established the Qing Dynasty. They continued to import clavichords, harpsichords, telescopes, clocks, and a variety of other devices which were initially quite prized by the Imperial Court; when British ambassador [[George Lord Macartney]] met with the [[Qianlong Emperor]] in [[1793]], he was dismayed to find the emperor utterly unimpressed with the clocks and astronomical devices he had brought to present as gifts.
Though the Jesuits condemned [[Buddhism]] and [[Daoism]] in their efforts to propagate Christianity, they were accepting of [[Confucianism]], which they saw as safely complementing Christian attitudes in much the same way that the writings of Aristotle and the like could be accepted in the West. Initially, they similarly tolerated Chinese ancestor worship as non-threatening to Christianity, and allowed it to be practiced by converts without condemning it as a pagan practice. This was reported to Rome, however, by members of the Franciscan and Dominican orders, and papal bulls issued in [[1715]] and [[1742]] condemned ancestor worship and forbade Chinese converts to Christianity from engaging in such practices. As a result, the fortune of the Jesuits in China declined dramatically. A few Jesuits remained in service to the Court, but Christianity was banned, churches were seized by the Court, and many missionaries fled China.
===Jesuits active in China===
===Jesuits active in China===