A study in cross-cultural transmission of natural philosophy : the Kenkon Bensetsu / José Miguel Duarte Leite Pinto dos Santos.
Text in English, with sections in Japanese-English and Portuguese.
Abstract in English and Portuguese.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Dissertação de Doutoramento em História dos Descobrimentos, 2011. Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
Includes bibliographical references.

KEYWORDS: Natural Philosophy, Aristotelianism, neo-Confucianism, Christianity in Japan, Heavens and Earth, Four Elements, Astronomy, Translation, 乾坤弁説

This work shows that the transmission of European natural philosophy by Christian missionaries in Japan during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was made in a systematic way, even if at an elementary level. The Kenkon Bensetsu is used as main evidence of this. This text was introduced into Japan by Antonio Rubino, on the orders of Inoue Masashige it was translated by Sawano Chuan, at the request of Kainosho Masanobu it was transliterated by Nishi Kichibei and Mukai Gensho, and this last one also wrote a commentary on its theories from a neo-Confucian perspective. The historical setting and the process that led to the production of the Kenkon Bensetsu are described. From this it is established that the Japanese of all walks of life were curious about the causes of natural phenomena; that the missionaries had the ability to provide those explanations, drawing from the pool of theories provided by sixteenth century Aristotelian natural philosophy, adjusted to the interests and talents of their audience; and that the Japanese authorities considered that these theories were important in some way and thus took the necessary steps to ensure that that they would not be consigned into oblivion as a consequence of their efforts to stamp out Christianity. The text is integrally translated following explicit criteria, therefore opening the way to further exploration by many researchers. Some of its most striking characteristics concerning content and style are analysed.

Local access dig.pdf. [Santos-Kenkon bensetsu.pdf]

Compendium catholicae veritatis / kanshū henshū Jōchi Daigaku Kirishitan Bunko 監修編集上智大学キリシタン文庫.
Colophon title.
"Compendium catholicae veritatis, in gratiam Iapponicorum fratrum Societatis Iesu, confectum per rdum. Patrem Petrum Gomezium Vice-Provincialem Societatis Iesu in provincia Iapponica"--Vol. 1, t.p.
Vol. 1: Reproduction of ms. copy of Compendia, a textbook for Jesuit College of Japan, prepared by P. Gómez in 1593-1594, presently in the Vatican Apostolic Library (Reg. Lat. 426)
Vol. 2: Reproduction of ms. copies of Japanese translation of Compendia, consists of three parts (pt. 1 separately translated in the late 17th century by Kobayashi Kentei 小林議貞 has title: Nigi ryakusetsu [二儀略說], handwritten copy in Kokuritsu Kōbunshokan collection ; pts. 2-3, handwritten translation finished in 1595 (now in the Magdalen College, University of Oxford).
Vol. 3: Commentaries in English and Japanese: Jesuit humanistic education in sixteenth-century Japan / M. Antoni Üçerler -- Compendia of the Jesuit College of Japan (in Japanese) ; A comparative table of contents for the Latin and Japanese MSS. / Satoru Obara 尾原悟.
Includes bibliographical references. Errata slip inserted in v. 3 (p. 54a).
1. Compendia -- 2. Iezusukai Nihon Korejiyo no Konpendiumu -- 3. Kaisetsu 解說 (Commentaries)

First vol. consists of facsim. of the original Latin ms., composed in 1593-4; second vol. consists of facsim. of the ms. of the original contemporary Japanese translation supervised by Pedro Ramon in 1595; third volume consists of "commentaries" (i.e. a critical introduction) in English and Japanese.

"The general title was taken from the first three words of the title of De theologia (the third part of the original in Latin), Compendium catholicae veritatis .... The original in Latin lacks a title page for the whole."--[Vol. 1], Introductory remarks.
"The present facsimile edition comprises three ... manuscripts, each reproduced in full in high quality photographs .... The works in question form a tripartite compendium of: (i) Western astronomy, cosmology, and meteorology; (ii) Aristotelian philosophy; and (iii) Post-Tridentine Roman Catholic theology. Sources show that the trilogy was specifically written in textbook form for the benefit of Japanese and European students preparing for the priesthood and was first used at the Jesuit College in Kawachinoura (in Amakusa, Western Kyushu)."--V. 3, p. 11.

Vol. 3 also in pdf [Compendium Catholicae Commentaries.pdf]