The Interpretation of Tang Christianity in the Late Ming China Mission

Manuel Dias Jr.'s Correct Explanation of the Tang Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching (1644)
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-90-04-53458-2
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 8, 360 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 749 g

Reihe: Studies in the History of Christianity in East Asia

The book contains the first annotated English translation of the Correct Explanation of the Tang “Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” (1644) by the Jesuit Manuel Dias Jr. and other late Ming Chinese Christian sources interpreting the “venerable ancestor” of the Jesuit mission, namely, the mission of the Church of the East in Tang China.

Based on this documentation, the book reconstructs the process of “appropriation” by Jesuit missionaries and their Chinese converts of ancient traces of Christianity that were discovered in China in the first half of the seventeenth century, such as the Xi’an stele (781) and other Christian relics

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nicolini-Zani, Matteo

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Christentum, Christliche Theologie Christentum/Christliche Theologie Allgemein Missionswissenschaft, Missionsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface

Abbreviations

List of Figures

Introduction

1 A Venerable Ancestor: The Appropriation of Tang Christianity by Jesuit Missionaries and Chinese Converts

1 The Context: The Tang Christian Stele and Its Interpretations

2 The Precious Stele: A Foundation Stone for the Seventeenth-Century China Mission

3 The Holy Crosses: The Xi’an Stone Confirmed by Other Ancient Traces of Christianity in China

2 A Multi-Level Commentary: The Correct Explanation of the Tang “Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” by Manuel Dias Jr.

1 Between Interpretation, Instruction, and Apology: The Contents

2 A Complex Work with a Long Life: The Structure, Editions, and Reprints

3 The Man behind the Text: The Author

Annotated translation

Preliminary Note on the Translation

“Correct Explanation of the Tang Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching” (Tang jingjiao beisong zhengquan ???????) by Manuel Dias Jr., s.j.

Preface

«??????????»

[Ancient Traces of the Heavenly Studies]

Correct Explanation of the Stele Eulogy on the Diffusion of the Luminous Teaching in China

Appendix 1: “After Reading the Stele Inscription of the Luminous Teaching” (Du jingjiao beishu hou ??????, 1625)

By Li Zhizao ???

Appendix 2: “Stele Inscription for the Church of the Luminous Teaching” (Jingjiaotang beiji ?????, between 1625 and 1627)

By Xu Guangqi ???

Appendix 3: “A Clarification about an Iron Cross” (Tie shizi zhu ????, 1627)

By Xu Guangqi ???

Appendix 4: “Preface to the Stele with a Cross Unearthed in Wurong” (Wurong chudi shizijia beixu ?????????, 1633)

By Zhang Geng ??

Appendix 5: “A Poem in Honor of Giulio Aleni, s.j.” (Late Ming dynasty)

By Ke Xianshi ???

Appendix 6: “Outline of the Orthodox Way of the Lord of Heaven” (Tianzhu zhengdao jielüe ??????, 1644)

By José Estevão de Almeida, s.j. and Inácio da Costa, s.j.

Appendix 7: “A Study of the Luminous Teaching” (Jingjiao kao ???, ca. 1644)

By Qian Qianyi ???

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Matteo Nicolini-Zani is a Catholic monk of the ecumenical Monastic Community of Bose, Italy, and a sinologist. He conducts historical and literary research on Christianity in China. He is the author of Christian Monks on Chinese Soil: A History of Monastic Mission to China (Liturgical Press, 2016) and The Luminous Way to the East: Texts and History of the First Encounter of Christianity with China (OUP, 2022).