[Apostolic Constitution Ex illa die of March 19, 1715. Chinese. Draft imperial edict titled Yu Xiyangren 諭西洋人 and dated December 17, 1720 (Kangxi 59/11/18)] / Clement XI, Kangxi emperor, Ying Lianzhi 英斂之, Chen Yuan 陳垣, Qingshi shanhou weiyuanhui 清室善後委員會

Facsimile to-scale reproduction of two documents from the Qing court archives, printed in 1925. The imperial palace in Beijing was being turned into a museum and its contents inventoried, which explains that these document came to light at this time.

The first document is a Chinese translation of Clement XI's Papal bull repeating prohibitions that Catholics in China not take part in worship of ancestors or heaven. Clement XI furthermore puts strict demands on missionaries to China. The translation, presented in the form of a palace memorial (zouzhe 奏摺), carries an imperial rescript by Kangxi saying that now that the this decree has been issued, the Christian religion can be prohibited in the Qing empire. The decree is preceded by a colophon by Ying Lianzhi 英斂之 (1867-1926) dated November 1925, describing that the document was found in the former Qing archives. 

The Latin text of a 1714 Papal decree that is quoted in Ex illa die is found in Claudia von Collani Archival Documents on the Chinese Rites 3, BNC FG 1256/22 [0030271-75.TIF] and in Decret de nostre S.P. le Pape Clément XI. sur la grande affaire de la Chine (1709), BV3415.2.C625 1709, along with a French translation. 

Kangxi's rescript is translated in Antonio Sisto Rosso, Apostolic Legations to China of the Eighteenth Century (South Pasadena: P.D. and Ione Perkins, 1948), BV3417.R6 1948, pp. 375-76 (Document 24).

The second document, titled "Yu Xiyangren" 諭西洋人, is a draft imperial edict with vermilion-ink corrections (in Kangxi's hand). The edict is a transcript of what Kangxi told José Soares (Su Lin 蘇霖, 1656–1736), Joachim Bouvet (Bai Jin 白晉, 1656-1730), Dominique Parrenin (Ba Duoming 巴多明, 1665-1741), João Mourão (Mu Jingyuan 穆敬遠, 1681-1726), Ignaz Kögler (Dai Jinxian 戴進賢, 1680-1746), Karel Slaviček (Yan Jiale 嚴嘉樂, 1678-1735), and others during an imperial audience at the imperial palace in Beijing.

The second document carries a colophon by Chen Yuan 陳垣 dated 1925 (Minguo 14/11/11). The colophon is written in reference to both documents. Chen also published the two documents in facsimile in Kangxi yu Luoma shijie guanxi wenshu yingyinben 康熙與羅馬使節關係文書影印本 (Peiping: Gugong bowuyuan 故宮博物院, 1932), BV2240.C5 C47 1932, items 11 and 14.

Kuwabara Jitsuzō 桑原隲蔵, "Shin ni hakken sareta Katorikkukyō no shūron kankei no ni shiryō" 新に発見されたカトリック教の宗論関係の二史料, Shirin 史林 11.3 (1926): 102-111 reproduces the two documents along with Chen's colophon. Kuwabara identified most of the foreign missionaries present at the audience in focus in "Yu Xiyangren."

Paul Pelliot later elucidated a few more of the Chinese names of European individuals in "Trois noms chinois de missionnaires sous K'ang-hi," T'oung Pao, second series, 29.1/3 (1932): 109-11.

 

D.E. Mungello, editor.
Cover title also in Chinese: Zhongguo Tianzhujiao shi yanjiu [Zhong-Xi wenhua jiaoliu中國天主教史研究 [中西文化交流]
Cover: Original color portrait of Xu Guangqi now preserved in the Shanghai Council for the Protection of Historical Relics 上海市文物保管委員會 and reproduced in Xu Guangqi ji 徐光啟集. -- Lin Jinshui 林金水: Li Madou jiaoyou renwu biao 利瑪竇交游人物表 (A list of Matteo Ricci’s friendships with eminent figures). -- Claudia von Collani: Ein Figuristisches Spätwerk Joachim Bouvets. -- Nicolas Standaert: The Jesuits’ preaching of the Buddha in China. --Symposium, Announcements, Publications.
Lin Jinshui’s article is reprinted from Zhongwai guanxishi luncong 中外關係史論叢: 1 (1985): 117-143.

Keywords: Figurism, French Jesuits, Jesuit cartographers, Jesuit mathmaticians, Hongpiao 紅票.