| Note | In 耶穌會羅馬檔案館明清天主教文獻. Chinese Christian texts from the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus, v.11 pt. 77: Shengshi lidian 聖事禮典 / Li Leisi 利類思 (Lodovico Buglio).
Full bibliographic citation see: Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database).
JapSin I, 161
Shengshi lidian 聖事禮典.
By Li Leisi 利類思 (Lodovico Buglio).
One juan. White Chinese paper. Bound in one volume, European style. Published in 1675 (Kangxi 14). On the back of the cover there is an inscription in French: “Deux exemplaires du Rituel en chinois, pour les prêtres chinois dispensés du latin.” The frontispiece has a Latin inscription: “MANUALE | AD | SACRAMEN | TA | ministranda | iuxta ritum | s. ROM–ECC. | sinice redditum | A Ludovico Buglio | Soc. Iesu | Pekim | in Colleg. eiusd. Soc. An. 1675.” The verso of this folio gives the name of the author: 極西耶穌會士利類思譯 (Translated by Li Leisi of the Society of Jesus from the Far West). It then gives the names of the censors of the book: An Wensi 安文思 (Gabriel de Magalhães) and Lu Riman 魯日滿 (François de Rougemont). Permission for publication was granted by Ferdinand Verbiest, then Vice-Provincial.
This book is a translation from the Latin text of the Rituale Romanum, a book for the administration of the sacraments and other ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church. At that time it was difficult for the Chinese clergy to learn Latin, and Buglio was commissioned to translate the original text into Chinese for the convenience of the Chinese priests.
There is in the Roman Jesuit Archive a letter from Lodovico Buglio to the General of the Society of Jesus, dated Peking 19 May 1678 (Jap-Sin, 124, ff. 129–133) in which Buglio gave his view on the ordination of Chinese priests. The question was whether the Chinese priests should use Latin or Chinese for Mass. Buglio’s opinion was that the younger Chinese priests, if they so wished, should be allowed to use Latin. For elderly Chinese priests, due to the difficulties they had in learning and pronouncing Latin, it would be better to use the Chinese language. Buglio then recalled how in the early days of the mission the missioners had obtained permission from Pope Paul V to translate the Roman Missal into Chinese. That the use of the vernacular for the Mass was nothing new, was clear from the permission given to many natives, e.g., the Greeks, Abyssinians, Syrians etc. In the early days of the Chinese mission, when Christians were not numerous there was no necessity for using the privilege granted by Paul V. As the number of Christians was increasing, it was felt that there was great need for the Mass and ceremonies in the vernacular. At the request of his superiors Buglio began to translate the Roman Missal, Ritual, and Breviary into Chinese. At the same time, so Buglio informs, Prospero Intorcetta, an Italian Jesuit, was preparing a translation into Chinese of the Rules and the Constitution of the Society of Jesus.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 211-212.
Shengshi lidian 聖事禮典 [JapSin I-161a]
Buglio, Lodovico 利類思
JapSin I, 161a
Shengshi lidian 聖事禮典.
By Li Leisi 利類思 (Lodovico Buglio).
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in two volumes. The format of this book is the same as that of Jap-Sin I, 161, except for the different quality of paper.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 212. |
