“….Exegesis was not excluded, however, as appears from Shengjing zhijie 聖經直解 (1632-1642) composed by Manuel Dias, Jr. This large work (14 juan) translates and comments on the Gospel readings of each Sunday and the major religious feast days. The commentaries are said to be based on Commentaria in Concordiam et Historiam Evangelicam (4 vols; v.1, 1599) composed by Sebastianus Barradas SJ (1543-1615), who was a teacher at the universities of Coimbra and Evora, and who was also a popular preacher. This was an extensive and well-known commentary (34 reprints until 1742). Manuel Dias, however, does not appear to have translated Barradas’ commentary, even though he may have used it as one of his sources. The actual use of Dias’ book is not entirely clear. It is uncertain, for instance, whether it was ever used in liturgy. The difficult style made it inappropriate for public reading. Shengjing guangyi 聖經廣益 (1740), compiled by Joseph Anne Marie de Moyriac de Mailla 馮秉正 nevertheless shows that the same translations could be used in prayer life. It takes its inspiration from Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises in which Biblical texts were used for meditation. The ordinary form of the yearly Spiritual Exercises was an eight day retreat. Shengjing guangyi is a handbook for such a retreat, constructed on the basis of the Sunday readings. These readings were simply copied from Shengjing zhijie.” -- Cf. Standaert, Handbook of Christianity in China, v. 1, p. 623-624.

Jap-Sin I, 70
Shengjing zhijie 聖經直解
Translated by Yang Manuo 陽瑪諾 (Manuel Dias Jr.).
Fourteen juan. Chinese bamboo paper in seven volumes. Published by the Catholic Church of Wulin 武林天主堂印. No date of publication.

The cover bears the title in Chinese with a Latin inscription: “Explicatio Evangeliorum | totius anni.”

Cf. Pfister, p. 109; Hsü 1949, pp. 23–24; Courant 6729–6730 (Hangzhou edition, without date), 6722–6723 (reprint, Peking 1739), 6740–6741 (reprint, Peking 1790); Couplet, p. 13; Sommervogel, vol. III, col. 44, no. 3; JWC 1:175; DMB 1:415.
Source: Albert Chan, Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 123.

Cf. Jap-Sin I, 68 (a duplicate of this book) and Jap-Sin I, 53.4; Courant 1190–1193; Havret, 1897; Pfister, p. 109; Hsü 1949, pp. 230–234; Couplet, p. 13. This book was reprinted by Tou sè wè (Shanghai) in 1878.

Source: Albert Chan, SJ, Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 28.

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) / by Matteo Nicolini-Zani.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
English text, partially translated from the Chinese.

Cover illustration: Manuel Dias Jr., Tang jingjiao beisong zhengquan 唐景教碑頌正詮 [Correct Explanation of the Tang Stele Eulogy on the Luminous Teaching] (Wulin [Hangzhou]: Tianzhutang, 1644), copy Bodleian Library Sinica 2643, frontispiece (unnumbered folio), courtesy of The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford.

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.

Local access dig.pdf. [Nicolini-Zani-Tang Christianity.pdf]

Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations ix
List of Figures xiii
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 唐景教碑頌正詮) by Manuel Dias Jr., s.j. 
Preface 
《景教流行中國碑頌并序》[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 讀景教碑書後, 1625) By Li Zhizao 李之藻
Appendix 2: “Stele Inscription for the Church of the Luminous Teaching” ( Jingjiaotang beiji 景教堂碑記, between 1625 and 1627) By Xu Guangqi 徐光啟 
Appendix 3: “A Clarification about an Iron Cross” (Tie shizi zhu 鐵十字 著, 1627) By Xu Guangqi 徐光啟
Appendix 4: “Preface to the Stele with a Cross Unearthed in Wurong” (Wurong chudi shizijia beixu 武榮出地十字架碑序, 1633) By Zhang Geng 張賡
Appendix 5: “A Poem in Honor of Giulio Aleni, s.j.” (Late Ming dynasty) By Ke Xianshi 柯憲世
Appendix 6: “Outline of the Orthodox Way of the Lord of Heaven” (Tianzhu zhengdao jielüe 天主正道解略, 1644) 
Appendix 7: “A Study of the Luminous Teaching” ( Jingjiao kao 景教考, ca. 1644) By Qian Qianyi 錢謙益
Bibliography 
Index 

"Tianwen lüe 天問略 (Questions about Heaven) .... Dias’ work was devoted to descriptive cosmology rather than mathematical astronomy. [A Chinese Christian convert who collated this text was Xu Leshan 許樂善 (ca. 1544-1625/26; jinshi 1571, baptised as John in 1610).] Dias' Tianwen lüe 天問略 (Epitome of Questions on the Heavens, 1615) is best known for its appendix, in which Galileo Galilei’s (1564-1642) invention of the telescope and the new observations he made with it were reported; the details of the surface of the Moon, the phases of Venus, the four satellites of Jupiter, the objects of which Saturn’s rings are made, many stars in the Pleiades and the Milky Way. Information travelled fast from Europe to China: Galileo’s Siderius Nuncius had been published in 1610, and his observations confirmed by Jesuit astronomers of the Roman College the following year. The main body of the Tianwen lüe, however, was a description of Ptolomaic astronomy; Dias' preface pointed out that the universe described was the work of God." -- Cf. Standaert, N., Handbook of Christianity in China, pp. 404, 693, 695, 712-713.

Local access dig.pdf [Dias-Tianwen lue.pdf]

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

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1冊.

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

Japonica-Sinica editions:
Jap-Sin I, 83a
Tianzhu shiyi xupian 天主實義續篇.
By Pang Diwo 龐迪我 (Diego de Pantoja, 1571–1618).
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

On folio 1a the title is given as: Tianzhu shengjiao shiyi, 12 ce, Tianzhu shiyi zhi di’er 天主聖教實義 | 十二冊 | 天主實義之第二 . Then the name of the author is given together with those of the three censors: Fu Fanji 傅汎際 (Francisco Furtado), Yang Manuo 陽瑪諾 (Manuel Dias Jr.) and Fei Lede 費樂德 (Rui de Figueiredo). The table of contents is given at the verso of this folio.
The entire book consists of sixty-five folios. There are nine columns in each half folio. The first line of each paragraph contains twenty characters and the other lines nineteen. The upper middle of each folio bears the title: Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 ; below the fish-tail the characters ci’er 冊二 (second volume) are given together with the number of the folio.
As is clear from these details, there is no sign of xupian (‘continuation’) being the title of this book. In fact, the inscription of the title on the first folio may mislead the inquirer into thinking that this is the second volume of the Tianzhu shiyi; in reality xupian here means “second series.”
The book deals with the attributes of God. It begins with the existence of the universe and all the creatures and from the effect to the cause, i.e., the existence of God. It then goes on to study the attributes of God. Finally, it tries to prove the immutability of God and his justice, i.e., the remuneration of the good and punishment of the wicked. The conclusion is that in this life man must try to do good and avoid evil in order to obtain everlasting happiness.
Pfister (p. 73) says: “Les PP. Couplet, Bartoli, lui [i.e., Pantoja] attribuent un ouvrage en chinois sur Dieu et ses attributs, dont nous n’avons aucune connaissance. (Couplet, Catal. p. 11.—Bartoli, Cina, p. 680; Sommervogel, Bibliothèque, t. VI, col. 172 seq.).” He did not realize that this is precisely the book he mentioned in no. 6 of his book (p. 72), namely the Shiyi xupian 實義續篇.
Cf. Courant 6848, 6849, 6850; BR, p. XXX.

Jap-Sin I, 83b, 83c
Tianzhu shiyi xupian 天主實義續篇.
By Pang Diwo 龐迪我 (Diego de Pantoja, 1571–1618).
Printed and published by the Catholic church of Qingzhang 清漳 (Zhangzhou 漳州, Fujian).

The folios 1a of both books bear the title Tianzhu shiyi xupian. The verso of this folio bears again the title and the author’s name in Chinese. The censors are the same as in Jap-Sin I, 83a and also the format of both books is almost the same, except for some slight differences in the engraving of the types. It seems that both editions were based on the edition of Jap-Sin I, 83a for their format and type. The Catholic church in Zhangzhou had also the Pangzi yizhuan of de Pantoja reprinted (Jap-Sin I, 82), see Courant 6854 (Jingjiaotang 景教堂 of Qingzhang).

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese books and documents in the Jesuit archives in Rome: a descriptive catalog, Japonica-Sinica I-IV.

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12冊.

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