A Chinese Jesuit catechism : Giulio Aleni's four character classic 四字經文 / Anthony E. Clark.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chapter1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Translation of Wang Yinglin's Sanzijing 三字經 (Three Character Classic) -- 3: Chapter Translation of Giulio Aleni's Sizijingwen 四字經文 (Four Character Classic) -- Giulio Aleni's Oeuvre -- Bibliography -- Index.

"This book is the first scholarly study of the famous Jesuit Chinese children's primer, the Four Character Classic, written by Giulio Aleni (1582-1649) while living in Fujian, China. This book also includes masterful translations of both Wang Yinglin's (1551-1602) hallowed Confucian Three Character Classic and Aleni's Chinese catechism that was published during the Qing (1644-1911). Clark's careful reading of the Four Character Classic provides new insights into an area of the Jesuit mission in early modern China that has so far been given little attention, the education of children. This book underscores how Aleni's published work functions as a good example of the Jesuit use of normative Chinese print culture to serve the catechetical exigencies of the Catholic mission in East Asia, particularly his meticulous imitation of Confucian children's primers to promote decidedly Christian content." --back cover

Local access dig.pdf. [Aleni-Clark-Four Character Classic.pdf]

Bian zhengjiao zhenchuan shilu 辯正教真傳實錄 = Pien cheng-chiao chen-ch'uan shih-lu = Apologia de la verdadera religion = Testimony of the true religion / por Juan Cobo, O.P., Manila, 1593 ; con introduccion de Alberto Santamaria, Antonio Dominguez, Fidel Villarroel ; editado por Fidel Villarroel.
Title in Chinese at head of title page: 辯正敎真傳實錄.
Text in Spanish, with English summary; Table of contents in Spanish; facsimile version of this book of original text in Chinese, English and Spanish.
"First book printed in the Philippines? A facsimile reproduction of the original Chinese text printed in Manila in 1593, done after the only copy known today, extant in the National Library of Madrid."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 399-402) and index (pages 403-408).

Local access dig.pdf. [Cobo-Villarroel-Shih-lu.pdf]
See also original text (1593) record.

First book printed in the Philippines (1593); only copy known extant at the National Library of Madrid. See BIBLIOTECA DIGITAL HISPÁNICA, BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DE ESPAÑA.

Local access digital pdf [Cobo-Shilu.pdf]

See also:
Eugenio Menegon, Ancestors, Virgins, & Friars: Christianity as a Local Religion in Late Imperial China, esp. p.52
Liu Dun, “Western knowledge of geography reflected in Juan Cobo’s Shilu 實錄 (1593)” in History of Mathematical Sciences: Portugal and East Asia II edited by Luís Saraiva, pp. 45-57. Note: Liu uses variant character Bian 辨 in title 辯正教真傳實錄 as do a few other sources.
Ricardo Martínez Esquivel, Pablo Rodríguez Durán, “Entre la religiosidad china y el evangelio cristiano: ¿una mirada a la “otra” primera divergencia?” online at Universidad de Costa Rica Revista Estudios.

Online record also linked on Bibliotheca Sinica 2.0.

The book consists of eleven folios. The number of the folio is given in Chinese in the middle of each folio.

Cf. Stary, p. 63 (Abkai ejen-i enduringge tacihiyan-i oyonggo gisun); see also Stary, pp. 42–43 (no. 41). For transcription and translation of this text, see John Mish, “A Catholic Catechism in Manchu,” Monumenta Serica 17 (1958), pp. 361–372.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 174.

The overlooked connection between Ricci's Tianzhu shiyi and Valignano’s Catechismus Japonensis / Thierry Meynard S.J.
Extract from: Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 40/2: 303–322.
© 2013 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture 南山宗教文化研究所
Includes bibliographical references.

Abstract:
It is well known that the Tianzhu shiyi (first published 1603) is the development of a previous catechism published some twenty years before, which Matteo Ricci completely remodeled according to his discussions with Chinese intellectuals. This article shows that Ricci’s mentor, Alessandro Valignano, and particularly his Catechismus japonensis, written in Japan from 1579 to 1582, shaped Ricci’s methods and ideas. This overlooked connection between the two works enables us to understand better Ricci’s debt toward his predecessor and his breakthrough in terms of engagement with indigenous culture.

Keywords: Matteo Ricci—Alessandro Valignano—Tianzhu shiyi—catechism
Local access dig.pdf. [Meynard-Ricci Valignano.pdf]

Tianxue [zhu] shiyi 天學 [主] 實義 [Borg. Cin. 332 1-5] / Matteo Ricci 利瑪竇，S.J. (1552-1610)

Archivum Historicm Societatis Iesu (ARSI) edition. Ex. Japonica-Sinica.
Digital copy in .tiff format, 4 ¾ CDROM & PDF.
CD-ROM contents: Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 [JapSin I-44] -- Manwen Tianzhu shiyi 滿文天主實義 (Abkai ejen-i unenggi jurgan) [JapSin I-48a-b] -- Jiaoyou lun 交友論 [JapSin I-49] -- Jiren shipian 畸人十篇 [JapSin I-52] -- Tianxue shiyi 天學實義 [JapSin I-53a] -- Tianzhu Shengjiao shilu 天主聖教實錄 [JapSin I-54] -- Tianzhu shilu 天主實錄 [JapSin I-189] -- Tianzhu shilu 天主實錄 [JapSin I-190]

JapSin I, 54
Tianzhu shengjiao shilu 天主聖教實錄.
By Luo Mingjian 羅明堅 (Michele Ruggieri).
One juan, one volume. Chinese bamboo paper. No place or date of publication. Ming edition.

The cover bears the title in Chinese and a Latin inscription: “Compendium legis divinae a P. Michael Ruggiero, S.J.” There is a note by D’Elia: “Questa è la 2^a edizione del Catechismo del Ruggieri (NN. 189, 190) uscita coll’ imprimatur del Furtado verso 1640, dopo censure dei PP. Emmanuel Dias, Gaspard Ferreira e Giovanni Monteiro. D’Elia. 23.9.1937.”

The main text consists of thirty-seven folios. The first folio gives again the title in Chinese and the name of the author. Each half folio contains nine columns, with nineteen characters in each column. The upper middle of each folio gives the title of the book and the number of each folio is given under the title.
This edition of the Tianzhu shilu was published, when Francisco Furtado was Vice Provincial of the mission in China (1635–1641 and 1646–1647) and revised by the three Jesuits whose names we have recorded above. It was then nearly sixty years since the Jesuits had come to China. By this time Ruggieri’s book was no longer in circulation (cf. Jap-Sin I, 189). It was only natural that the new edition should be adapted to the needs of the time. The designation “a monk of India” for the author of the book is no longer to be seen in this edition. Instead the term yuanxi 遠西 (Extreme West) and Yesuhui houxue 耶穌會後學 (member of the Society of Jesus) is used. Since the publication of Matteo Ricci’s Chinese World Map, the Chinese had begun to know something about Europe, and Ricci called himself a European in his book Jiaoyou lun 交友論 (cf. Jap-Sin I, 49 and 53.2). The word seng 僧 (Buddhist monk), which appeared in the first edition of the Tianzhu shilu, was then replaced by the word jian 堅 (the last character of Ruggieri’s Chinese name, i.e., I or me). The last phrase of the first chapter of the original edition, which reads: 一位之天主, was changed to 一尊之天主, in order to avoid misunderstanding on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity (三位一禮). Likewise in the first line of chapter two 一位天主, the word 位 was dropped and so afterwards wherever the same phrase occurred. Also, terms used in the first edition were changed considerably. Thus: 天人 (angel) was changed into 天神, 魂靈 (soul) became 靈魂, 咽咈諾 (hell) became 地獄; 布革多略 (purgatory), however, was given the free translation: 古今善人煉罪者之居 (the habitation where the just, ancient or recent, make satisfaction for their sins). Furthermore, the original edition did not try to give much explanation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity; the new edition develops the doctrine more fully. Even the word si 寺 (monastery) was felt to be too Buddhist and it was changed to Tianzhutang 天主堂 (a Catholic church).

This new edition is divided into sixteen chapters, as was the original edition. The divisions, however, are not quite the same; e.g. the seventh chapter of the original edition (解釋魂歸四處) is placed in the eighth chapter and the wording reads: 解釋魂歸五所. The seventh chapter of the new edition adds a new item, namely: 天主聖性章 (chapter on the Divine nature of God). In short, the new edition makes so many changes that the original book is greatly improved. The book has the qualities of a modern catechism.

Cf. Courant 6815: “Véritable exposé de la religion chrétienne. Par le P. Michaele Ruggieri, Jésuite (1543–1607; nom chinois Lo Ming kien, Fou tchhou), avec introduction de l’auteur (1584) et autorisation du P. Furtado.”
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 97-99.

Full bibliographic information see: Ad Dudink & Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-Database).
Online at ARSI Chinese Books.
Local access dig. pdf. See ARSI Jap-Sin I-IV folder [Jap-Sin I-54.pdf]

JapSin I, 110
Tianzhu shengjiao yueyan 天主聖教約言.
By Su Ruwang 蘇如望 (João Soeiro, 1566–1607).
One juan. Chinese bamboo paper in one volume. No date or place of publication.

The cover bears the title and a Latin inscription: “Compendium | Doctrinae christianae | Liber sinicus editus a Patre | Joanne Soerius Soc^tis Jesu.”

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, p. 159.

See also: Standaert, Handbook of Christianity in China, v. 1, p. 264, 615.

Yesuhui Luoma dang'anguan Ming-Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian / Edited by Nicolas Standaert [and] Adrian Dudink. Reproduction of original text in vol. 1 of this collection. 

Citation source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 90-99.
Jap-Sin I, 189
Xinbian Xizhuguo Tianzhu shilu 新編西竺國天主實錄
By Luo Mingjian 羅明堅 (Michele Ruggieri).
One juan (thirty-nine folios), one volume. Thick Chinese bamboo paper.
Cloth cover, half leather, in European style.

The back of this book bears the title in golden letters: “P. Ruggieri | Doctrina | christiana.”

In the upper middle of the frontispiece there is a wood cut emblem of the Society of Jesus (IHS), surrounded by a verse taken from Psalm 112: † A SOLIS ORTV VSQUE AD OCCASVM LAVDABILE NOMEN DOMINI—PS:CXII. At the four corners of the emblem there are drawings of an oak branch with an acorn and two leaves. Below there are two lines in big Chinese characters: 天主實 | 錄正文. Above the emblem there is an inscription in Chinese: 解此番字周圍眞經. At the right of the emblem there is an inscription: 天主之名當中, and at the left: 益揚乾坤明教. For a photocopy of the frontispiece, see FR 1:196 (tavola X) [and figure 3 of the present catalogue]. On the opposite page there is an inscription by D’Elia:

Questo è la prima edizione del | 1^o Catechismo cinese curato dal | P. Michele Ruggieri e finito di stampare a | Siauchin o Shiuhing verso il 26–29 nov. 1584. | Questo Jap Sin I, 189 è | lo stesso di Jap Sin I, 190. | Il primo non ha il nome dell’ autore | mentre il secondo lo ha = [Ruggieri] Michele | Uno studio su questo catechismo | è aparso in Arch. Hist. S.J. 1934, | pp. 193–222, ma l’autore dall’arti– | colo non conosceva allora che Jap Sin I, 190, che è un edizione posteriore (the last five words are erased with an annotation: correzioni fatte dal P. D’Elia, 21.XII.57) Preziosissimo. 15.9.34. cf. Tacchi Venturi: Opere storiche del P. Matteo Ricci II, 50–51.

The folios 1–2 contain an introduction by Ruggieri, dated Wanli 甲申歲 (1584), 秋八月望後三日. At the end there is no signature, but only the inscription: 天竺國僧書 (written by a monk from India). The first line of folio 3 reads: 新編西竺國天主實錄目錄 (An index of the newly compiled Tianzhu shilu of West India). This is followed by the titles of the sixteen chapters of the book. Folio 4 begins: 新編天主實錄, and below: 天竺國僧輯 (Compiled by a monk of India).

Each half folio contains nine columns with twenty characters in each column. The middle of each folio bears the title followed by the number of each folio.
At the end of the book the Ten Commandments (Zuchuan Tianzhu shijie 祖傳天主十誡) are given on a separate sheet (56 x 24 cm). On the top margin there is a pencil inscription in Latin: Fol. separatum de decalogo et salute animae. The end of this last folio bears the inscription:

Hoc folium continet traductionem sinicam Decalogi. Probabiliter missum est Romam e Sinis die 30 Nov. 1584, cf. Tacchi Venturi, Opere storiche del P. Matteo Ricci, 1913, II, p. 51. Contra id quod affirmat Wieger in Arch. Hist. S.J. 1932, p. 84, non habet annum (multo minus non habet 1582) impressionis. Probabilissime impressum est inter 10 sept. 1583 et mensem januar. 1584 in Sinis, cf. Arch. Hist. S.J. 1934, 194–195.

The Tianzhu shilu was written in the form of a dialogue, probably influenced by the method then in use in Europe (cf. Jap-Sin I, 43a). Its main point was to prove the existence of God and at the same time to disprove the superstitions of Buddhism. It also tried to explain why the missioners had entered religion. Moral problems and popular beliefs of the late Ming period were also discussed: choosing lucky days, divination, explanation of dreams, sodomy, concubinage, etc.
The Decalogue found at the end of the book consists of a long sheet with 18 columns of thirteen characters each. It was published together with the Our Father and the Hail Mary around the years 1583–1584. The last two prayers are no longer to be found. The Chinese characters are fairly large and they are in the written style and are printed in blue ink (so also Jap-Sin I, 190). Whether or not this was done intentionally, it bears great similarity to a Buddhist scripture.
The Tianzhu shilu is undoubtedly the first catechism written and published in Chinese, cf. Margiotti, p. 277. According to a letter from Ruggieri to the General of the Society of Jesus (25 January 1584), he had been preparing a catechism in Chinese for the past four years (Jap-Sin 9 II, f. 257v). According to D’Elia (FR 1:197, n. 2) the T’ien chu shih lu was based on the Latin catechism compiled in Macao in 1581 by Ruggieri and his fellow Jesuit, Pedro Gomez. This manuscript is now kept in the Biblioteca Nazionale di Roma (catalogue number: Ges. 1276). Tacchi Venturi, however, thought that the handwriting of this manuscript was not that of Ruggieri. Furthermore, D’Elia in his article (AHSI, 3, 1934, p. 219) estimated that the Latin manuscript contains above 15,000 words, while the Tianzhu shiyi has only 8,002 words. This is a big difference between the two. Then, we have a letter written by Ricci from Canton to the Jesuit General (November 30, 1584), in which he says that the Chinese edition of the Tianzhu shiyi is ready and that he is going to send it to Rome together with the translation of the Ten Commandments, the Our Father and the Hail Mary. He then goes on to say that because of the visit to Zhaoqing of Father Francisco Cabral, rector of Sao Paulo at Macao, he had to postpone the translation of this book into Latin or Italian. This perhaps can serve as a circumstantial evidence that the Chinese text was not a direct translation of the 1581 Latin manuscript.

This book is called xinbian 新編 (newly revised), in contradistinction to the original manuscript which circulated in 1580. When Ruggieri first went to Canton with the Portuguese merchants he must have had talks with the Chinese on the Christian religion. He probably had something prepared in Chinese to meet such occasions. In the Roman Jesuit Archive there is a Portuguese Chinese vocabulary (Jap-Sin I, 198) attributed to Ruggieri and Ricci. At the end of the manuscript there is a brief catechism in four and one-half folios. On folio 12v there is a paragraph entitled 解釋聖水除前罪惡, which is substantially the same as Xinbian Tianzhu shilu, f. 28v (line 7) to 29r (line 5). Can this be the original of the Tianzhu shilu? This manuscript was never printed, but only circulated among Ruggieri’s Chinese friends. Ruggieri himself told the Jesuit general in his letter of 12 November 1581, that the Chinese mandarins called him shifu 師傅 (the great master), "because they read only one catechism [lit., doctrina] which I had composed last year to give them some general knowledge of our holy law, as much as they can take." (TV 2:403–404). Ruggieri arrived in Macao in the year 1579. His Chinese was then scanty. When he tried to compose his catechism he had to seek help from a Chinese, probably some student from the seminary (cf. TV 2:35 & n. 4). The manuscript catechism of four and one-half folios (Jap-Sin I, 198) is in the handwriting of a Chinese, badly written with a large number of mistakes [cf. Chan, p. 94]. This merely shows that the copyist was not a well educated man. The catechism had to be brief to suit the capacity of its readers, who had never heard anything like it. Communication for the first time was by no means easy.

The Xinbian Tianzhu shilu was written in Zhaoqing 肇慶 sometime before 1584 and Ruggieri was encouraged by his mandarin friends to have it published. He obtained permission from the Jesuit Visitor, then Alexander Valignano (cf. Jap-Sin 9, folio 257v). Publication, however, was postponed till the end of 1584, because it still had to be corrected and retouched for Chinese style.
In a letter, written on 5 December 1584, Francisco Cabral reported to Valignano on his visit to Zhaoqing the month before. He said that on 21 November he had baptized two Chinese, one of whom was a literary man (according to Ricci, a xiucai 秀才 or bachelor and a native of Fujian), who had been living in the house for four to five months and was teaching Chinese to the two priests (TV 2:118, 1:149). He was also helping to compile the Chinese catechism (TV 2:429). There can be no doubt that this man (Cabral mentions his name as Paolo) did the polishing of the style. Ricci in his letter to the Jesuit General (Guangzhou, 30 November 1584) mentions that he too had collaborated in this catechism: “un catechismo che habbiamo fatto in lettere china gia con la gratia del Sig^e stampato . . .” (Jap-Sin 9, folio 315).
The second convert whom Cabral baptized also seems to have taken part in this new catechism. He was a native of Zhaoqing, known by his Christian name Giovanni [John]; according to Ricci, his full name in Chinese was Cin Ni co (D’Elia could not make out the Chinese character of his family name: 陳，鄭，秦). In the middle of folio 26 we find the Chinese character 陳 at the bottom of the column. Did he put his name there while he was proofreading (as we still see proofreaders do in our days) and did the engraver cut it out on the wooden block? (cf. AHSI, 3, 1934, p. 202; TV 1:149, cf. 1:125–126).
Hsü Tsung-tse (1949, p. 141) observes that the Chinese of the Tianzhu shilu is clumsy and the terminology awkward. This was only natural, since this was the first attempt to translate something entirely new into Chinese and that by foreigners. If we bear in mind that nearly four centuries after the coming of Catholicism to China we still have so much difficulty in the translation of Catholic terms, we can perhaps readily excuse the imperfections of the first Chinese catechism. As an illustration we cite the following examples: 天人 for 天神 (angel), 祖公啞噹 for 原祖亞當 (Adam), [口 + 熱] 所 for 耶穌 (Jesus), 咽咈諾 (inferno) for 地獄 (hell) and 得道神仙 for 聖人 (saints).
The author of the book signs as 天竺國僧 (a monk from the Tianzhu country [India]), because the Chinese had never heard of Europe. D’Elia, however, did not agree in this explanation with Wieger, but said that the Japanese used to call the Jesuits Tenjiku jin 天竺人, hence Ruggieri and Ricci adopted this name (AHSI, 3, 1934, pp. 209–218). And because the Chinese did not know what a religious meant they chose the term seng 僧, (Buddhist monk) as the closest equivalent (cf. Jap-Sin I, 53.4).
In 1585 when the Provincial of Mexico wrote to the Jesuit General in Rome he quoted Alonso Sánchez of the Philippines, who had paid a visit to Guangzhou, as saying that 1,500 copies of the Tianzhu shilu had been printed (cf. Francisco Zambrano, S.J., Diccionario Bio-Bibliográfico de la Compañía de Jesús en Mexico, Mexico, 1962, Tomo II [siglo XVI, 1566–1600], p. 119, n. 57). The book enjoyed a wide circulation. Ricci says that they had given hundreds of copies to friends and that Catholicism was thus soon spread. Where the missioners could not penetrate, the book was able to convey the instruction (TV 1:134). He also says that several Chinese became Christians through reading the book (TV 2:55, 71). Between the years 1584 and 1585 the “ambassador” of Cochin China who happened to be in China, visited the Jesuits in their house and brought back with him a number of copies of the book. And in 1586 Valignano wrote to the Jesuit General that this Catechism in Chinese would be of use for the Japanese Buddhist monks. Indeed, he asked that a good number of copies to be sent to Japan (Jap-Sin 10, folio 214v, no. 10; cf. FR 1:379, n. 4).
According to Duarte de Sande (孟三德, 1531–1600) the Tianzhu shilu was reprinted several times in Korea and Japan around the year 1595. Ruggieri returned to Europe in 1588. He brought back with him the Tianzhu shilu in Latin and also his Latin translation of the Four Books, with the intention of having them published in Europe. This, however, was never realized due to the strong opposition of Valignano, who was aware that Ruggieri’s Chinese was never very good and that the book he had written, though widespread, was nevertheless imperfect. Furthermore, later on the Jesuits changed their Buddhist dress for that of the scholars and they no longer called themselves seng as in Ruggieri’s book. Valignano had set his eyes on Ricci, whom he thought far better at Chinese than Ruggieri (Jap-Sin 13, f. 46r, 46v [Japon. Epist. 1596–1599]). We are told that Valignano had given him an assignment to write a new catechism and this was published in its due time under the title Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 (q.v.). By then Ruggieri’s book was no longer in use; even the stored copies were no longer distributed. Eventually the wooden blocks were destroyed.
Léon Wieger quotes Trigault as saying that in Jiangnan the missioners kept the wooden blocks of Ruggieri’s book and reprinted it on several occasions. Unfortunately, he does not give us the sources of his information and does not help us to find out whether the newly engraved book was an entirely new edition or was based on the old first edition of 1584 (Jap-Sin I, 190?). The new edition of the Tianzhu shengjiao shilu 天主聖教實錄 in Jap-Sin I, 54 and 55 (see below), was published after the death of Trigault (1628). The contents had been changed considerably. It was not quite the same as the original book.

Cf. Léon Wieger, “Notes sur la première catéchèse écrite en chinois, 1582–1584” in AHSI, 1, 1932, pp. 72–84; P.M. D’Elia, “Quadro storico-sinologico del primo libro di dottrina cristiana in cinese,” AHSI 3, 1934, pp. 193–222; JWC 1:65–71; Antonio Possevino, Bibliotheca Selecta (Romae, 1593), Liber IX, p. 581.
Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 90-96.

The Latin inscription on the frontispiece reads: “Catechismus R.P. Michaelis Rogery.” The Latin catalogue gives: “ed. maior 1585, and classifies it as: rariss [ima].”

190 2r 天竺國僧明堅書
189 The characters 明堅 are absent
190 4r 明堅輯，天主篇第一
189 Both 明堅 and 第一 are absent
190 5r, line 7 且如乾坤之內
189 如此 instead of 且如
190 6r, line 5 章第三
189 These three characters are missing
190 9r, line 6 惡悲
189 The first character is written as 慈
190 23v, line 3 亞當達誡
189 違 instead of 達
190 29v, line 6 以代世人贖罪
189 以普世人除罪
190 38v, line 3 解釋淨首除穢
189 解釋淨水除前罪

The comparison of these two editions shows that 190 reads better than 189; even the quality of the paper and the style of binding is better than in 189. From these indications we conclude that 190 is a new edition. However, in the correspondences of contemporary missioners we have found no trace of this new edition. Can it have been published some time after 1584 or before 1640? (Compare the remarks of Wieger and D’Elia in Jap-Sin I, 189, which we have cited above).
Cf. Vatican Library, Borgia Cinese 324.1 (duplicate of this edition).

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 96-97.

Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 / Li Madou yuanzhu 利瑪竇原著 .... 鄭安德編輯.
“本書根據杭州燕貽堂較梓本編輯整理, 由李之藻1607年重刻序"--P. 1 (2nd group)

The Tianzhu shiyi of 1603 and its many later editions, reprints, and translations was by far the most influential Catholic catechism in China, and its influence lasted well beyond the 17th century. Like the classics of Confucianism, it is written in the form of a dialogue, in this case between a Chinese and a Western scholar. Based on natural theology, it sought to explain fundamental Christian ideas through argumentation and applied reason. Ricci uses rational arguments to prove the existence of God, preparing the background until the final chapter where he explains the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ and his ascension without including the passion and crucifixion. Quoting the Chinese Classics to demonstrate the ancient Chinese had natural knowledge of God, Ricci’s approach was in accord with the Thomistic view that reason had its own value, and resembled Valignano’s methods in the Catechismus Christianae Fidei (1586).

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2冊.

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