JapSin I, 106
Shengjiao sigui 聖教四規.
By Pan Guoguang 潘國光 (Francesco Brancati, 1607–1671).
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

The cover bears the title of the book with a Latin inscription: “De praeceptis | Ecclesiae | a p. Franc. Brancati, S.J.”

The main text consists of seventeen folios. The first folio bears the title and the name of the author. There are eight columns in each half folio, with nineteen characters in each column. The upper middle of each folio bears the title with the number of the folio marked below. The text explains the four precepts of the Church.
Cf. Pfister, p. 228, no. 3; Hsü 1949, p. 184; Courant 7217 7219, 7089 II; Couplet, p. 31.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 156.

JapSin I, 106a
Shengjiao sigui 聖教四規.
By Pan Guoguang 潘國光 (Francesco Brancati, 1607–1671).
This is a duplicate of Jap-Sin I, 106.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 157.

In vol. 17 of: Xujiahui cangshulou Ming-Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian xubian 徐家匯藏書樓明清天主教文獻續編. -- 42. 天階 （潘國光 Francesco Brancati）

"..... a short meditation or pious thought for 30 occasions or moments during the day, from the early morning to the late evening (see ’table of contents’). "The author teaches how during all daily activities, even the most simple ones, one can elevate one’s soul to God, while observing the infinite perfections of God in material objects and thanking him for his blessings and accepting the hardships of life with resignation. The style of this text is simple and the thoughts are pious" (Pfister, in translation). The text opens (f. 1a3) with referring to an admonition expressed by Jesus: 吾主耶穌在世訓十二宗徒曰 爾當恆求天主而無倦 (cf. Luke 18:1, “And he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint”)" --Cf. Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database).

Tianjie 天階 / 潘國光.
Print edition. Mss. reproduced in Xujiahui cangshulou Ming-Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian xubian 徐家匯藏書樓明清天主教文獻續編, vol. 17, pp. 495-518.

Note: The surmise (below) that this text is an adaptation of Bellarmine's De ascensione mentis in Deum per scalas creaturarum opusculum is incorrect. See: Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database)

JapSin I, 107
Tianjie 天階.
By Pan Guoguang 潘國光 (Francesco Brancati, 1607–1671).
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

The cover bears the title in handwriting and a Latin inscription: “Caeli scala, sive piae | mentis elevationes | a. p. Franc. Brancati, S.J.”

Folio 1 gives the title and the name of the author. There are eight columns in each half folio. On the upper middle of the folio the title is given together with the number of the folio. The booklet contains ten folios.
According to Sommervogel (t. II, col. 81) this booklet is probably a translation from one of the works of St. Robert Bellarmine. It has for its purpose the lifting up of the hearts of the faithful to God in their daily lives.
Cf. Pfister, pp. 228–229, no. 5; Hsü 1949, p. 89; Courant 6964–6967 (Élévation de l’âme vers Dieu); Couplet, p. 31 (Ascensio mentis in Deum ex creaturis).

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 157.

"Important are the spiritual books that present themselves as guides, compasses, or roads for avoiding evil and proceeding towards heaven: Tianjie 天階 (1650, Brancati)..." Cf. Standaert, Handbook of Christianity in China, v. 1, p. 630.

Cf. Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database).
Local access dig.pdf. [Brancati-Tianjie.pdf]
Online at Gallica.

Pfister translates the title as “Leçons pour la congrégation des Anges” (p. 229, no. 6) and explains (p. 227) that Brancati had established a number of congregations in Shanghai and that “celle des Saints Anges, pour les enfants” was one of these. The style of this catechism for children is simple and clear. The questions and answers are well arranged.
The following are the contents: the six necessary things one ought to know in order to enter the church; the nature of God; the human soul and body; an explanation of the sign of the cross; an explanation of the Lord’s prayer; an explanation of the Hail Mary; an explanation of the Apostles’ creed; the Ten Commandments; the precepts of the church; explanations of the seven sacraments, of the eight Beatitudes and of the four last things.

There is no date or place of publication in our copy, but Pfister supplies the information that it was published first in Shanghai in 1662, and we think that the publication was made by the Jingyitang 敬一堂 of Songjiang 松江, founded by Brancati in 1641 (cf. Jap-Sin I, 102).

Cf. Hsü 1949, p. 476; Courant 6946–6959, 6960 天神規課. For another edition, see Jap-Sin II, 170.

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 155-156.

JapSin I, 163
Tianzhu Shijie quanlun Shengji 天主十誡勸論聖蹟.
By Pan Guoguang 潘國光 (Francesco Brancati, 1607–1671, zi 用觀).
Ten juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

The title page and the preface by Xu Zuanzeng 許纘曾 are missing.

Cf. Courant 7220.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 213.