| Abstract: | The life of the Ming scholar and Catholic convert Xu Guangqi 徐光啟 (1562–1633) drew unprecedented attention throughout China in the 19th and 20th centuries. Writers and public figures across China’s rapidly changing society praised Xu as an ideal model for modern Chinese citizens. This sudden celebrity may seem surprising, as Xu’s name had fallen into obscurity in the centuries following his death, and his life and works were only remembered by descendants and local people in his hometown of Shanghai. Why was Xu’s legacy revived three hundred years later, and what relevance did it actually have for Chinese society in the twilight of the Qing dynasty and the Republican period? This article tackles these questions by tracing the reestablishment and development of the new Jesuit mission in Shanghai since 1842. It investigates how the memory of Xu was recovered and reinserted in the public imagination of modern China. |
