" ... [both] works give a broad introduction to the main elements of the Christian faith, scholastic theology, and Catholic liturgy ... associations with the Confucian tradition on different levels, Zhu also stressed elements like the power of Christian symbols over evil spirits. Buddhist and Taoist (Daoist) beliefs and practices were refuted in great detail ... " Cf. Standaert, Handbook of Christianity in China, vol. 1, p. 430, 617
See also: Zhu, Zhengshi lueshüo 拯世略說
Cover illustration: Bibliothèque nationale de France. Courant 7036.
明末清初耶穌會思想文獻匯編 = An expository collection of the Christian philosophical works between the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty in China ; 第31冊.

Local access dig.pdf. in folder: [Andrew Chung Series].

JapSin I, 146
Da ke wen 答客問.
By Zhu Zongyuan 朱宗元.
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

The cover bears the title with a Latin inscription: “V. RR [vera responsa] ad quaesita a licentiato christ. Chu çum yuen.”

In the Zhengshi lüeshuo (Jap-Sin I, 145) Zhu Zongyuan says of the Da ke wen: “What I could express by words of mouth, I would not spare my insignificance. I was prone to arguments and [as a result] I published the Da ke wen . . .” (cf. Hsü 1949, p. 156). According to the preface of Lin Wenying the author wrote this book when he was 23 sui. It deals with the teaching of the Catholic Church and presents apologies against false religion. Lin Wenying has high praise for the zeal of the author of this book, saying that he was a great worshipper of the Lord of Heaven and that he was eager to communicate his knowledge of God to others. “The readers, therefore, need not think unjustly that this book deals with learning from the West; rather they should realize that it deals throughout with the religion we Confucians should embrace; since this religion is a practical one, its doctrine agrees with ours and [even] its mental attitude, in general, is the same as ours.”

According to the preface, new printing blocks were being prepared for the Da ke wen by Mr. Su 蘇先生 around the year 1697. This makes us think that he was José Soares (1656–1736), whose Chinese name was Su Lin 蘇霖 (zi 沛蒼).
The Yin Xian zhi 鄞縣志, compiled in the Kangxi period, gives the biography of Zhu Zongyuan, who was a native of this district (Ningbo 寧波, Zhejiang). He was a tribute student (gongsheng 貢生) of 1646 (Shunzhi 3). Two years later he obtained the juren degree. We are told that he was learned and an accomplished essayist.
Antonio de Gouvea in his Asia Extrema speaks of a young scholar who was baptized in Hangzhou by Manuel Dias Jr. and took the Christian name Cosmas. Later he returned to his native Ningbo and invited the missioners to come to evangelize the people there. His mother also was converted to the faith. In the letters of missioners Zhu Zongyuan is often named Cosmas, which seems to identify him with the young man baptized by Manuel Dias. In 1640 there were 560 neophytes, according to Colombel (vol. I, p. 323), among whom were three brothers of a Zhu family that came from a gentry class. Their Christian names were: Peter, Cosmas, and Mathias. Cosmas seems to have been the second of the three brothers. Besides writing the above mentioned books, Zhu Zongyuan seems to have given much help to the missioners in their writings. So he polished the style of Qingshi jinshu 輕世金書, the Chinese translation of the Imitatio Christi, made by Yang Manuo 陽瑪諾 (Manuel Dias Jr.) and published in 1640 (Chongzhen 13). He also wrote a preface for another book by Manuel Dias, namely, the Tianzhu shengjiao shijie zhiquan 天主聖教十誡直詮 (A straightforward explanation of the Ten Commandments of the holy Church of God). Zhu Zongyuan was also one of the revisers of the Tianxue lüeyi 天學略義 written by João Monteiro 孟儒望 and published in Ningbo in 1642 (Chongzhen 15) and of the Tizhengpian 提正篇, written by Girolamo de Gravina and published in 1659 (Shunzhi 16). The Tianzhu shengjiao huoyi 天主聖教豁疑, a booklet in less than a thousand characters, bears Zhu Zongyuan’s name as its narrator and that of Qu Dude 瞿篤德 (Stanislao Torrente, 1616–1681) as its reviser.

Cf. Hsü 1949, pp. 154–155; JWC 2:91–98; Jap-Sin II, 75.

[Author’s note: Jap-Sin I, 147, 147a, 147b, 147c, 147d and 147e: six texts, composed by Iacomo Rho, bound together in one volume European style.]
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 192-194.

JapSin I, 166.b
Da ke wen 答客問.
By Zhu Zongyuan 朱宗元.
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

The cover is somewhat torn. It has a Latin inscription: “Responsa ad questiones circa varias res religionis christianae | et idolatricae | a licentiato christiano Chu Çum yuen.”

Bibliographical citation see: Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database).

JapSin I, 166.c
Huoyi lun 豁疑論.
By Zhu Zongyuan 朱宗元; revised by Stanislao Torrente (Qu Dude 瞿篤德, zi 天齊, 1616–1680). One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. Reprinted by the (Jesuit church) Dayuantang 大原堂 in Guangzhou. No date of publication.

The cover bears the title and a Latin inscription: “Solutio objectionum circa | religionem christianam | a christiano Chu | Çum Yuen.”

Cf. JWC 2:91–98; Fang Hao 1947, pp. 69–72; id., 1969, pp. 230–232.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 221.

'...[Both] works give a broad introduction to the main elements of the Christian faith, scholastic theology, and Catholic liturgy .... associations with the Confucian tradition on different levels, Zhu also stressed elements like the power of Christian symbols over evil spirits. Buddhist and Taoist (Daoist) beliefs and practices were refuted in great detail..." --Cf. Standaert, Handbook of Christianity in China, vol. 1, p. 430, 617.
See also: Zhu, Da ke wen 答客問.

Cover illustration: Bibliotheque National de France. Courant 7139
明末淸初耶穌会思想文献汇编 = An expository collection of the Christian philosophical works between the end of the Ming dynasty and the beginning of the Qing dynasty in China ; 第32册.
本书據法囯囯家图书馆藏本排印.

Local access dig.pdf. in folder: [Andrew Chung Series].

The cover bears the title in Chinese with a Latin inscription: “De vera et falsa religione, a licencia | to christ^o Chu çum yuen.”

Cf. Courant 7139–7142; Hsü 1949, pp. 155–156; JWC 2:91–98; Fang Hao 1947, pp. 69–73.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 191-192.

JapSin I, 145a
Zhengshi lüeshuo 拯世略說.
By Zhu Zongyuan 朱宗元.
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

This is a duplicate of Jap-Sin I, 145, as is Jap-Sin I, 166 d.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 192.

JapSin I, 166.a
Zhengshi lüeshuo 拯世略說
By Zhu Zongyuan 朱宗元.
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

The cover bears the title and a Latin inscription: “De vera et falsa | religione | a licentiato christiano Chu Çum yuen.”

Full bibliographic citation, see: Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database).