Catholic-Confucian Mortuary Practices in a Rural Manchurian Cemetery

Historical Archaeology - Catholic missionaries were active among rural populations in Manchuria, in northeast China, around the turn of the 20th century. Their presence influenced everything from...     

“意大利建国三杰”形象在近代中国的塑造及演变

19世纪后期,"意大利建国三杰"通过传教士的工作进入中国知识界,中国的各个群体基于各自的立场和目的对"三杰"的形象做出了不同的诠释。20世纪初,梁启超对《意大利建国三杰传》的译著,使"三杰"的形象在晚清中国广泛流传开来,成为传播爱国主义的重要思想资源。救亡图存的议题一直贯穿着整个民国时期,"三杰"的相关事迹也不断得到宣传,成为中国知识分子的集体记忆。然而,在近代中国的历史语境下,"三杰"的形象不可避免地被工具化,以致三人的形象和他们原来的面貌之间存在着相当的距离。     

Restituting Church Buildings and Negotiating Church Factions： Missionary Mapmakers and the Making of Local Networks （1712-1716）

At the turn of the 18th century, the Kangxi emperor initiated a large project to map the vast territories of the Qing. The land surveys that ensued were executed by teams of Qing officials and European missionaries, most of them French Jesuits first sent to China in 1685 and actively supported by the French crown. Early 18th century Jesuit publications foster a much-heralded claim that these missionary-mapmakers drew on their status of imperial envoys during the surveys to locally advance the position of the Catholic church. This article strives to explore the format/on of such local networks by these missionaries as they passed through the cities and towns of the Chinese provinces. On the basis of archival material, details emerge of contacts with local Qing administrators and Chinese Christians, and of attempts to purchase and recover local churches. This is then discussed against the background of the Rites Controversy, in an attempt to evaluate how such local networks relate to the rivalry between missionaries of different orders. The article emphasizes that there was （and perhaps is） no such thing as ＂pure science＂ by underscoring that important technical achievements such as the Qing mapping project are often shaped by complex networks and historical contingencies.     

西方传教士对中国地理学的影响

西方宗教在传入中国的过程中不可避免地产生了中西文化的碰撞与交流,而地理学是其中比较激烈的部分。西方传教士作为基督教传播的主要媒介,理所当然地在中西文化交流的过程中起到了穿针引线的作用,其中对中国地理学的影响也是相当巨大的。本文结合传教士在中国发展的兴衰过程,相应地对西方传教士对中国地理学的影响的研究分三个时期来进行描述:唐元时期、明末清初时期以及鸦片战争以后。最后,本文用辨证的观点评价了西方传教士对中国地理学的影响:它在促进了中国地理学的发展的同时又造成中国对地理科学认识的误导。     

Why Worldwide Bible Translation Grows Exponentially

The number of languages into which the Bible has been translated has grown exponentially during the past 2,300 years. The history of Bible translation can be divided into three periods of growth, each with its distinct limiting and driving forces. In the low‐growth period between 260 BCE and 1814 CE growth was constrained by the rise of Islam and later by the information monopoly of the Catholic Church. The year 1815 was the inflection point, at which annual growth rates rose from below 1 to above 1 per cent. The century 1815–1914 was a period of substantial growth due to the co‐occurrence of three driving forces: Christian revivalism, internationalisation, and industrialisation. This was followed by a third period—the era of explosive growth between 1915 and today—in which information technology and the organisational structure of translation agencies have spurred growth. An array of multinational organisations of Anglo‐Saxon origin have created a quasi‐monopoly for worldwide Bible translation. The exponential growth of worldwide Bible translation can be modelled by a mathematical function. Using this function and assuming the continuation of current trends, it is possible to project the end of the history of pioneer Bible translation sometime between 2026 and 2031.     

明清传教士对《山海经》的解读

晚明前清时期在华耶稣会士作品中有关《山海经》的零星内容反映出这些欧洲传教士与时代变局相关的心态变化。从16世纪到18世纪,欧洲的地理类作品随着其世界观念的更新而从传说与实证并存向实证性内容居主导转变,礼仪之争使在华传教士对中国文化的态度从针对中国人的迎合向针对欧洲人的特别宣传转变。受这两种变化驱使,传教士看待《山海经》时从认可和吸收变为轻蔑与排斥。     

疾病的隐喻:清前期天主教传播中的医疗文化

During early Qing Dynasty, with the gradual spread of Catholicism among local society, the role of the Catholic Church in treating peoples’ disease became increasingly important. To fulfill the goal of converting Chinese, missionaries not only tried to make a favorable impression by distributing medicine, but also competed with Buddhism, Taoism and other folk religions by constructing a series of romantic images concerning illness in society in order to more successfully disseminate Catholic ideology. The “exorcising” ability of Holy-water, the Cross, the Rosary and other items used in Catholic worship, and the sacramental rituals were exaggerated by missionaries and Chinese Catholics when preaching the Catholic faith in grassroots communities. The dialogue between Catholicism and Buddhism, Taoism, and folk beliefs found in Catholic medical stories from early Qing Dynasty is an important part of Catholic medical culture.     

Myths,missions, and mistrust: The fate of Christianity in 16th and 17th century Japan

This article examines accepted opinion regarding the persecution and demise of Christian/Catholic missions in 16th and 17th century Japan. Many of the key issues associated with the encounter of European missionaries and Japanese feudal systems of authority and power resonate with contemporary interest in transculturalism, semantic slippage, personal agency, and the intimate interplay between religion, politics, and economics. Burdened with rigid standards of belief, heresy, and race from European inquisitions as well as Mesoamerican conquests, the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries made numerous strategic blunders that contributed to their fates, both as recipients of expulsion orders and, finally, on the execution grounds.     

In the name of God: translation and transformation of Chinese culture,foreign religion,and the reproduction of “Tianzhu” and “Shangdi”

Translation between one language and culture into another assumes that a fundamental set of commonalities exist between the two cultural and linguistic contexts. In the case of the Christian Bible, Chinese translations not only involved translating words into Chinese, but also adapting and transforming an exotic Western religion for local sensibilities in such a way that Christianity might be recognized as a legitimate system of thought within a Chinese cultural milieu. Focusing on the perspective of different Chinese translations of the name of the Christian God, this article examines the history of the debate regarding the issue of translation, and the approaches adopted by the Catholic and Protestant faiths. It examines the reclamation and evolution of traditional Chinese vocabulary into new terminology through the application of Western religious concepts, and the ways in which indigenous Chinese society accepted these concepts, with an eye towards examining the course of historical progress through the history of social adoption of these ideas.     

The Complexities of a New Faith: Xu Guangqi's Acceptance of Christianity

Xu Guangqi (1562–1633) was one of the most important early Chinese Catholics closely associated with Matteo Ricci (1552–1610), the legendary founder of the Jesuit China mission. In spite of his widespread fame since the seventeenth century, the precise nature of his religious experience has not so far been adequately investigated. To understand his complex relationship with Christianity and thereby gain insight into the fateful East–West intellectual interaction in the early modern period, this article closely probes various aspects of Xu's spiritual journey including his family history, his reception of baptism, and his association with Jesuit missionaries both before and after his conversion, and the particular character of his Catholic faith.     

十四至十七世纪中朝官式建筑大木做法若干问题研究

本文通过对14—17世纪中国明朝官式建筑与约略同时期的朝鲜李朝建筑在大木技术上的比较研究,尤其是对典型建筑中大木作的分析比较后发现,朝鲜李朝建筑与中国明朝官式建筑,特别是山东曲阜地区建筑在木构技术上有许多相似之处。这一方面是由于李朝与明朝在历史上一直有着密切联系和相互交流;另一方面,李朝时期的统治者十分尊崇儒家学说,朝鲜半岛在地理上又与中国山东地区十分接近,海上交流频繁,在建筑领域也有许多共同之处。本文力图通过对两国木结构建筑之大木构架特征及其发展规律的研究,剖析二者的异同及其形成原因,并藉此为比较研究提供新的视角与切入点。     

试论王韬的基督教信仰

王韬与来华传教士、教会以及基督教之间的关系,时间上以1850年代为中心,尤其集中在1854—1857年期间,并以麦都思的去世为时间与信仰上的一个转折点。此间王韬不仅接替其父王昌桂协助麦都思等完成《圣经》翻译,而且还近于重新改写翻译了《宗主诗篇》,积极参与宣教站宣教材料的编写及传播事务,同时还向麦都思提交了一份与自己受洗相关的申请书,王韬与基督教之间的关系至此亦达到顶点。但即便如此,撇开当时的社会文化因素,王韬的不断被自我强化的中国文化立场、世俗与知识理性、比较宗教意识、根深蒂固的文人情怀与生活习气,让他始终陷入到基督教信仰与非基督教信仰的夹缝之间,并最终让他完成了一个晚清民间文人信仰追求、怀疑与自我放逐的思想人生之路。     

清末民初留日医学生报刊传播西医活动述论

文章以留日医学生报刊为中心,对清末民初留日医学生传播西医活动进行梳理,在此基础上努力复原留日医学生＂学医＂和＂传医＂活动的真实面貌,进而管窥留日医学生及其创办的报刊在中国近代西医传播史上的重要地位。清末民初,大批爱国志士心怀医学救国之梦,东渡日本学习现代医学,标志着国人被动接受西医的终结。赴日医学生组织学会,创办报刊,致力于德日派西医体系的传播。德日派西医在中国现代医学史上虽然没有英美派西医的影响力大,但是也为中国医学的近现代转型做出重大贡献。赴日留学生报刊对开启民智,振奋民族精神发挥了不可低估的作用。     

Nuclear science and the story of a preserved leaf from a copy of the Great Bible

Three pressed leaves of Ulmus glabra (Wych Elm) were found within the pages of a copy of the Great Bible in the Library of the University of Western Australia. The Bible dates from AD 1540 and was originally housed at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire. A radiocarbon age on one of the leaves found it was about as old as the Great Bible itself, and stable C and N isotope and neutron activation analyses were carried out on the same leaf. The δ¹⁵N values were elevated and the content of iron, arsenic, bromine, silver, gold and mercury were relatively high. These analyses are consistent with an environment where water logging is present, as at Ely at the time, and the silver and gold content are probably consistent with the cathedral setting. The mercury was found to be associated with the red ink in the Bible. It is intriguing to ponder why Wych elm leaves were placed in the Bible, especially in the light that a copy of an original edition of the King James version of the Bible from Ely, also in the library in Perth has many dozens of U. glabra leaves also preserved within in its pages.     

论美国早期汉学研究

美国汉学兴起于19世纪中叶,起步虽晚,但发展迅速。早期美国汉学研究有两个显著的特征：一是以来华传教士为主体。裨治文、卫三畏是其中主要代表。他们精通中文,熟悉中国历史文化,汉学研究水平之高、程度之深、范围之广是前所未有的。二是注重中国现实特别是关注中国近代化问题的研究,从而开启了美国汉学注重现实的先河,使汉学研究摆脱了欧洲汉学古典规范的束缚。但早期美国汉学也存在着缺乏专职性和研究群体单一性的严重不足。     

The South China coast in French and Dutch literature

The article examines a number of pieces of early French and Dutch writing about the South China coast. The first is the journal of a Swiss mercenary named Ripon, who was employed by the Dutch East India Company and ventured in the East from 1617 to 1627; the second is a group of journals by Isaac Titsingh, Andreas Everard van Braam and Chrétien-Louis-Joseph de Guignes, describing their embassy to Emperor Qianlong in 1794–95; and finally there are a series reports by Dutch Protestant and French Catholic missionaries from the mid-nineteenth century onwards. Such Western sources can be an important supplement to the often scant Chinese sources for certain periods. Sources recording the same event but written by different authors and in different languages can provide an informative range of perspectives and serve to complement each other. And a range of different sources in different languages may combine to produce a fairly full historical picture of a given topic.     

16至19世纪前期中日贸易商品结构的变化——以生丝、丝绸贸易为中心

16至19世纪前期的中国对日丝、绸贸易,前后经历了由盛转衰的过程。究其原因,实不能单从输出的中国一方去找,而还应从输入一方的日本去找,其根本原因则在于随着日本蚕丝生产兴起和丝织生产的发展日方对华丝、绸需求的减少。输日华丝的由盛转衰,实质上反映了中日丝绸生产特别是生丝生产能力的前后变化,反映了日本随着生丝生产的发展逐渐减低了对华丝的依赖程度。到19、20世纪之交,中日丝绸生产的格局变化更加清晰地显示出来。     

Breaking through the “jargon” barrier: Early 19th century missionaries’ response on communication conflicts in China

Tracing the origin and circulation of the “jargon” spoken at Canton, the paper examines how “jargon” became an issue of Sino-foreign communication conflicts in the early 19th century, and how Westerners responded to it. As a lingua franca spread extensively in the Canton trade, the so-called “jargon” (a pidgin form of patois) played an essential role as communication tool between Chinese and foreign traders. However, in the eyes of missionaries in early 19th century China, the normal Sino-foreign contact process was interrupted and distorted by both parties’ overusing of the jargon. In this regard, early Protestant missionaries’ support of Chinese language study reveals an initial effort to break through the “jargon” barrier.     

李佳白与尚贤堂--清末民初在华传教士活动个案研究

美国传教士李佳白早期在山东传教,维新时期创办针对上层社会传教的机构“尚贤堂”。从晚清至民国初年,李佳白通过尚贤堂联络中外人士、举办文化活动、宣传和平主张和实行各教联合,曾受到广泛关注。尚贤堂的创立和发展与中国社会的变迁密切相关,反映了20世纪初,在中国社会转型的背景下,在华传教士活动的新变化、新特点以及传教士的活动逐渐淡出中国历史舞台的过程。对这个问题的研究,具有一定的现实意义。     

Wading into the stream of Chinese life: the life and missionary career of Roderick Scott in China, 1916–1949

The legacy of Western Christian missionaries to China during the early twentieth century has often been debated by historians, being judged both positively and negatively. Yet, the truth is usually more complex. In examining the lives of Roderick and Agnes Scott, two American missionaries and educators who were active in Fuzhou from 1916–1949, the historian can see how the interaction between Western Christianity and Chinese culture played out in at least one instance, and observe how one American couple developed a growing affinity for the Chinese people and their culture, which gradually led them to the role of interpreters and advocates on behalf of the Chinese during and following World War II. Yet the papers of Roderick Scott also provide examples of the complex relationship between the Chinese and resident foreigners during these years. They document the rise of anti-foreigner sentiment in the 1920s, the debates over the Sinicization of western institutions in the years that followed, the solidarity displayed by foreign missionaries toward the Chinese during the years of the Sino–Japanese War, and their great reluctance to leave China following the revolution of 1949.