A Flow of Christian Images from the Shanghai Jesuits to the Paris Foreign Missions in Japan: Imitation, Alteration, and Returning to the Roots / Nanyan Guo.

Extract from: Journal of Jesuit Studies 10 (2023): 605–639 
Includes bibliographical references.

"Jesuits in Modern Far East....special issue of the Journal of Jesuit Studies explores the “new” Jesuit mission to China, established in the 1840s.."--Steven Pieragastini.

 Abstract

The Jesuit Adolphe Vasseur created more than 160 woodblock prints at the orphanage of T’ou-se-we in Shanghai, China, combining Western images of biblical stories with traditional Chinese styles and symbols, aiming to help familiarize the Chinese people with Christian concepts. Vasseur’s images were adopted and transformed through lithographic publications and woodblock prints by the Paris Foreign Missions (MEP) in Japan from the 1860s to the 1870s under Fr. Marc Marie de Rotz (1840–1914). Focusing on ten woodblock prints, often referred to as the “De Rotz Prints,” which were made based on Vasseur’s images and altered by adding Japanese symbols, this paper will show how Vasseur’s images were modified from a Chinese to Japanese context, primarily by adapting to the situation of Japanese Christians, who were emerging from more than two centuries of persecution and underground worship. This article is part of the special issue of the Journal of Jesuit Studies, “Jesuits in Modern Far East,” guest edited by Steven Pieragastini.

Keywords

T’ou-se-we – Adolphe Vasseur – De Rotz Prints – Japanese Christians – lithographic publishing – woodblock prints – picture books – Paris Foreign Missions

Local access dg.pdf. [Guo-Christian images.pdf] 

"At the nexus : De Rotz’s letters to the Shanghai procure" / Pan Zhiyuan

Published in the Journal of the Study on Religion and History No. 2

Abstract:

Through an analysis of a series of letters written by Marc de Rotz, a missionary from the Paris Foreign Missions Society (MEP) in Nagasaki, to Jean-Baptiste Martinet, the Society’s procurator in Shanghai, this study reveals the crucial role of the Shanghai Procure as a central hub in the Catholic missionary network in East Asia during the late nineteenth century. In the circulation system of the MEP’s Eurasian routes at the time, Shanghai was a vital gateway connecting Japan with the headquarters in Paris, thus forming a close link between Shanghai and Nagasaki. The letters show that in the face of challenges, De Rotz turned to Shanghai for theological guidance, material support, and assistance with personal needs. He consulted with the Jesuit priest Aloysius Sica in Shanghai, through the procurator Martinet, on how to handle the issue of traditional beliefs in Japan, which were similar to thosein China. He requested prints from the Tushanwan Orphanage by Adolphe Vasseur to be replicated and disseminated in Japan. Additionally, with Martinet’s help, he was able to withdraw funds he had raised in Europe from his Shanghai bank account to alleviate a famine in Sotome. The friendship between De Rotz and Martinet further facilitated the exchange of information  and resources  between  them.  This research emphasizes the lasting impact of the Shanghai Procure as a maritime link in the broader network of East-West exchange