Subject: Paper money--Religious aspects--China

Tianzhujiao sangli wenda 天主教喪禮問答. [Jap-Sin I, (38/42) 38/1.1]
AuthorVerbiest, Ferdinand 南懷仁, 1623-1688Grimaldi, Claudio Filippo 閔明我, 1638-1712Pereira, Tomás [Tomé] 徐日昇, 1645-1708
PlaceTaibei 臺北
PublisherTaipei Ricci Institute 利氏學社
CollectionRicci Institute Library
Edition初版
LanguageChinese 中文
TypeBook
SeriesChinese Christian texts from the Roman Archives of the Society of Jesus ; v. 5, Yesuhui Luoma dang'anguan Ming-Qing Tianzhujiao wenxian 耶穌會羅馬檔案館明清天主教文獻 ; 第5冊
ShelfHallway Cases
Call NumberBX1665.A2 Y47 2002 v. 5
Descriptionv. 5, pp. 493-508 ; 22 cm.
NoteTianzhujiao sangli wenda 天主教喪禮問答 / [Nan Huairen zhu 南懷仁著].

JapSin I, (38/42) 38/1.1
Tianzhujiao sangli wenda 天主教喪禮問答.
By Nan Huairen 南懷仁 (Ferdinand Verbiest).
One volume. Chinese bamboo paper.

The Latin inscription on the cover reads: “De cultu christianorum erga mortuos cum notis imperatoris Kam Hi (litteris rubris) 1689. Rarum (2 exempl.) (Addenda ad prius exempli ‘Compositio’ quaedam).” On top of folio 1a there is a Latin inscription: “Litterae rubrae et notationes in originali | scriptae sunt propria manu Imperatoris | Cam Hi anno 1689o, cui esse conforme hoc exemplar, testor | Antonius Thomas. V~Provlis Soctis Jesu | V~Provae Sinensis. | Pekini | 26 Oct. | 1701.” On the left there is a seal of the Society of Jesus in red, which reads: “Socie. Jesu † Vic. | Provinc. Sinen.” The date is given on the left as “Pekini | 26a Oct. | 1701. | Further left there is an oval red seal: Socie. Jesu † Vic. | Provinc. Sinen.”
There is no title page. The text consists of seven unnumbered pages. At the end of this booklet the date and the names of the author and the collators are given: the thirteenth day of the ninth month in the twenty-first year of the Kangxi reign (13 October 1682); Nan Huairen, Jesuit of the Far West, answered and narrated; prepared for publication by Min Mingwo 閔明我 (Claudio Filippo Grimaldi) and Xu Risheng 徐日昇 (Tomé Pereira). This booklet contains five questions together with their respective replies:

1. The meaning of prayer.
2. Prayers at the funeral are for the souls in purgatory.
3. Although the penance in purgatory is determined by God, human efforts can be of help to lessen the penance.
4. The meaning of Catholic funeral ceremonies.
5. The reasons why the Catholic Church forbids burning paper money for the deceased.

Folio 1a has a comment in red ink written by the Kangxi emperor: 言整理順 (The words are well chosen and the ideas convincing); folio 7a has the comment: 說得爽快透理 (Straightforward and thorough) and another comment: 有理有理但恐得罪於人 (Right, right, but it may offend someone).
Neither the catalogue of the Zikawei library nor those of the Vatican or the Bibliothèque Nationale (Courant) mention the title of this booklet. According to Bernard (1945, p. 376, no. 476) there is a printed copy in the Beitang library (Beijing): “Verbiest, Tianzhujiao sangli wenda 天主教喪禮問答. Catéchisme sur les rites funéraires. Xy Pékin entre 1672 et 1686 (Réviseurs: Grimaldi, Th. Pereira). PC 1939 (7 fo, la page de titre manque).”

Source: Albert Chan, SJ, Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, pp. 35-36.