On Matteo Ricci's Catholic Confucianism

First of all, Matteo Ricci

Matteo Ricci (1552 ~ 16 10) was born in macerata, marcela Province, central Italy. I studied in a missionary school since I was a child, and entered the Roman College to study law at the age of 16. 157 1 joined the Jesuit society in Rome and continued to study Latin, philosophy, theology, mathematics and astronomy in schools sponsored by the Jesuit society. His solid humanistic accomplishment and knowledge of nature laid a solid foundation for his later spread of western learning in China. 1582, he joined a mission to China, came to Macao, and then set foot in Shaoguan, Nanjing, Nanchang, Beijing and other places to live and preach. Matteo Ricci has been preaching, working and living in China for 28 years since he entered Macau. He died in Beijing on May 16 10 at the age of 57. Matteo Ricci is really the first person to communicate Chinese and western cultures next season. Since Gigi Lai entered China, the cultural exchange between China and the West has become a beautiful landscape. Modern western astronomy, calendar, mathematics, physics, medicine, philosophy, geography, water conservancy, architecture, music, painting and other arts were introduced at this time. Matteo Ricci was not only a pioneer in preaching in China, but also the founder of the comprehensive study of China in the West. "

Second, Matteo Ricci's missionary strategy

The historical background of Matteo Ricci's missionary work in China was16th century, when the primitive capital of western Europe accumulated and the colonial power expanded overseas. Due to the opening of new sea routes and the "geographical discovery", Africa, India and North and South America have been recognized by Europe one after another, and the colonists and businessmen in western European countries such as Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands have risen to the climax of overseas expansion and plunder. In order to cooperate with this expansion, Jesuits actively carried out overseas missionary activities, expanded their power and served the colonists. Matteo Ricci was sent to China under this background, and his purpose and task were very clear. At that time, the Ming government adopted a closed-door policy, and the rulers did not welcome these missionaries and restricted their missionary activities. In the 14th year of Wanli, Liu Jiwen, the governor of Guangdong Province, issued an injunction to expel foreigners from China and repatriate them. Some missionaries demanded that "please send a large number of troops into China, and the troops should be high, so as not to be hurt by the China army." . This army has the right to freely enter China and pass through all provinces. This can not only play a deterrent role, but also ensure the safety of missionary work. "They also made a detailed battle plan to attack China, and stressed that" no one can convince missionaries without the help of the army. Other missionaries, led by Matteo Ricci, opposed resorting to martial arts. They believe that "teaching in China can never be achieved by a powerful fleet, a huge army or other human forces". Matteo Ricci realized that in order to successfully promote the spread of Christianity, he must do as the Romans do, understand, respect and adapt to China culture, especially reconcile and understand the relationship between Christianity and Confucianism, and make necessary changes and adjustments to Christianity to adapt to Confucianism, China customs and China culture. He believes that Christianity and Confucianism are generally consistent and can complement each other.

(A) the material "caters"

In view of the rejection of heresy in the Ming Dynasty, Matteo Ricci first began to make material packaging by changing his image in the eyes of Chinese people.

1. Learn Chinese, speak Chinese and wear Hanfu.

"It is not difficult for people to believe that a smart, accomplished and dedicated nation can be interpreted as allowing some foreigners who are also famous for their knowledge and morality to live among them, especially if their guests are proficient in China's language and writing." So he began to learn Chinese from 1582, and soon he could speak fluent Chinese and cope with various occasions. People say, "Lizi came from the sea as a traveler ... he knows a lot of words, which is different from others who make guests rich and famous." At the same time, Matteo Ricci hired local prestigious scholars to explain the scriptures with AG. Zan said in Modern Can Cong that Li's "Since he came to China, please translate the word" sound "and try to translate the meaning of Chinese. At the same time, I invited the Five Classics teacher to explain the classics in the canteen and make friends. " Li Zhi also said in "Continued Burning Books", "All books in our country are suitable for reading, so please transliterate them first, ask those who understand the four books to explain their meaning, and ask those who understand the six classics to explain them." In order to distinguish barbarians, Matteo Ricci focused on clothing on the other hand. After nearly ten years of hard missionary work in China, he accepted the advice of Zhai, a scholar-bureaucrat friend. He gave up the costume of hating couples, grew hair and beard, put on Confucian clothes instead, and pretended to be a gentleman, thus completing the image transformation of a missionary from "hatred" to "Western Confucianism". He wrote in his notes: "When I left Shaozhou, I made a silk robe for myself and prepared to attend a grand meeting ... The silk robe used for large-scale meetings was modeled after that worn by scholars and dignitaries ... This gave us great hope. In addition, we decided to abolish the name "annoying couple" ... In the eyes of China people, this name means monk, but it is used in a very humble sense. Matteo Ricci visited him in a silk suit and hat with two servants, and asked them to call him "master" instead of "priest". When recording the reasons for the change from "hate" to "western Confucianism", he said: "It is good for Christianity to grow a beard and long hair, so that it will not be mistaken for idolaters, or worse, for monks who sacrifice idols. ..... Priests should dress like highly educated people in China, and they should wear a silk robe when visiting officials. In the eyes of China people, without it, a person is not worthy to be on an equal footing with officials or even educated people. "

2. Take the upper route and make friends.

Matteo Ricci realized that China was a highly centralized and autocratic country, and officials were all selected from intellectuals who believed in Confucianism. They regard Confucianism as orthodoxy. If they want to preach and get the support of the people, they must first get the support of officials and intellectuals who rule the people or have a high position in the people's minds. "You must first get permission from the royal family or its main advisers, otherwise you can't enter the mainland." Therefore, he never forgot to make friends with the upper class in China, tried every means to bribe and make friends with local officials, and made friends with literati. As Feng Yingjing said in On Making Friends, "Prince Xi traveled 80,000 miles east to China to make friends." Matteo Ricci used the world map, clock, prism, armillary sphere, globe, telescope, oil painting, western piano, western books and other western technologies, exotic objects to attract China officials, so as to arouse their curiosity and win their favor. Through this strategy, it won the favor and support of governors, governors and magistrates from all over the country, and made them preach in Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Nanchang, Nanjing and other places, and finally got the opportunity to present gifts to Ming Chengzu when they went to Beijing for the second time in 160 1 year (the 19th year of Wanli). He presented the emperor with rare western objects such as icons of gods and scriptures, which aroused the interest of the emperor Wanli, so he was allowed to stay in Beijing to preach. Since then, Portuguese colonists and churches have been sending missionaries to Chinese mainland.

(B) the spirit of "Jesus plus Confucius" combined with Confucianism.

In order to spread Christianity in China in an all-round way, Matteo Ricci realized that the theory and strategy of Catholic Confucianism must be improved, and the attempt of "Jesus plus Confucius" of Catholic Confucianism must be started at a deeper spiritual and cultural level. On the basis of respecting China's cultural tradition as much as possible, he used Confucian classics to explain or attach Christian meaning, combined with some connotations of Tianxue and Confucianism, sought similarities between Christianity and Confucianism, and built a bridge between the two different cultures.

1, "religious ethics" of Christianity and "secular ethics" of China.

Matteo Ricci linked the Christian "religious ethics" with China's "secular ethics". He believes that the ultimate goal and general intention of Confucianism is domestic peace and order. They also look forward to family economic security and personal moral cultivation. The proverbs they expounded are really guiding people to achieve this goal, which is completely in line with the inner light of conscience and the truth of Christianity.

2. "God" and "God"

On the basis of studying Confucian classics, Matteo Ricci made some changes and adjustments in his thoughts, and he was familiar with both "God" and "God". "In order to coordinate the concept of authority with the name of God, the godfathers always replace God with the name of God, which means the Lord in heaven." Matteo Ricci declared in his book "The True Meaning of God" that "the God in our country is a God through words" and "through ancient books, we can know that God and God are concrete through names". In order to demonstrate this point, Matteo Ricci quoted a classic, such as The Doctrine of the Mean, which quoted a sentence from Confucius,' The gift of serving the society is used for God'. Zhou Song said: "Insist on the military king, but have no intention of being strong, and don't show Cheng Kang. God is the emperor. He also said,' If the emperor comes to ask for help, he will be denied knowledge and clearly show God.' Ode to Shang Dynasty said:' The sun rises, the holidays are postponed, and stones are carved by God.' Ya said,' King Wen of Wei, be careful to show your god'. Yi said, "The son of heaven is shocked." ..... He explained that Confucius advocated' the ritual of serving the small society should also serve God', which showed that Confucius regarded God as the only God, unlike Zhu's belief that Confucius said nothing about it. The statement that "life belongs to the imperial court" in Jin Teng shows that God is not a material "heaven". Since God has a dwelling place, it is naturally not a material paradise. The word "heaven" or "god" is used everywhere in the Ming version of The True Meaning of God, so as to keep consistent with the Confucian classics. Missionaries also called themselves monks, and it was not until Pope Grameen XI banned this name in 1704 that they changed their name to God. In this way, Matteo Ricci equated the "God" in Catholicism with the "God" in China tradition, which enabled China people to accept the "Tianxue" in their concepts and cultural beliefs and laid a solid ideological foundation for the spread of "Tianxue" in China.

3. "Love God" and "Kindness"

After Matteo Ricci communicated the relationship between "God" and "God", he coordinated the Catholic "love of God" and the Confucian "benevolence". In his view, when Confucianism talks about "benevolence", it is essentially about loving others, so-called "benevolent people love others". Catholicism requires believers to love God, and loving God is not abstract, but embodied by loving others. Loving God is naturally loving others. "If you love someone deeply, you will love the person you love. God loves God, and I really love God, even people who don't love him. " "The effect of loving God is more sincere than loving others ... If you don't love God, how can you test your sincere respect for God?" . "Love is worthy, eat when you are hungry, drink when you are thirsty, pray for God for him, and dare not forget when you die." In this way, Matteo Ricci docked the two ideas of "loving God" of Catholicism and "benevolence" of Confucianism, and then proposed that "the benevolent loves God, so he loves himself and his lover because of God. Knowing that he is a god and everyone is lovely, why do you love goodness? " Love the goodness of others depends on the goodness of God, not the goodness of people. "That is to say, loving others is a concrete manifestation of loving God in the real world. Catholics love God and teach people to love others, which is not contradictory to the purpose of "benevolence" advocated by Confucianism. In his view, there can be some agreement between Catholic "love God" and Confucian "benevolence", even what Confucianism itself advocates.

Matteo Ricci adopted a strategy centered on Confucianism and Catholicism, actively understanding China and adapting to China. His effective missionary strategy started a successful missionary career from Matteo Ricci's coming to China in 1582 to the dissolution of Jesuits in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in 1775 * * 190.

Third, the characteristics of Matteo Ricci's Catholic Confucianism

Matteo Ricci, as an outstanding Jesuit missionary who entered China in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, was knowledgeable, familiar with Chinese and Western cultures, and had a good study of China's Confucianism. Matteo Ricci's Confucianism has two characteristics: compatibility and utilitarianism.

(A) ancestor worship and respect for Confucius-Matteo Ricci's compatibility with Catholicism and Confucianism

As we all know, ancestor worship is not allowed in Christianity because it violates the Ten Commandments, that is, the true God does not allow any false gods and quasi-gods around him to enjoy prayer. Christian sacrificial rites call on groups and individuals to make sacrifices. What they offer is not the outside world, but the people themselves. It is a spiritual sacrifice to give praise, gratitude, faith and love to God. In China in the Ming Dynasty, "from the emperor to the lowest level, the most common practice was to offer sacrifices to the dead once a year", and the sacrifices were offered at the graves of the dead. "Every new moon and full moon, ministers and bachelor-level people come to the Confucius Temple to worship their teachers. Etiquette in this case includes burning incense, lighting candles and bowing. Every year, on Confucius' birthday and other suitable days, exquisite dishes are presented to Confucius. "

The Confucian custom of offering sacrifices to ancestors and respecting Confucius is in fundamental opposition to the Christian admonition. According to them, it should be incompatible. However, Matteo Ricci showed tolerance for ancestor worship, "showing reverence for the deceased ancestors", and offering sacrifices was "the best way to express his deep affection", which was also conducive to educating children to "learn to respect and support their living parents". It seems that this practice of paying homage to the graves of the dead cannot be accused of blasphemy, nor is it necessarily superstition, because they don't regard their ancestors as gods anyway, and they don't beg or hope for anything from their ancestors. Similarly, "they don't pray to Confucius, nor do they pray for his blessing or hope for his help." They respect his way, just as they respect their ancestors mentioned above. "The problem of worshipping ancestors and respecting Confucius reflects the compatibility of Matteo Ricci Confucianism. Christianity generally opposes sacrifice, but never forbids praying for the dead. Moreover, the Christian belief in resurrection is interlinked with the Confucian concept of respecting ancestors, which is not only beneficial to Christian groups and church organizations, but also does not violate the Confucian family spirit. Matteo Ricci saw the connection between them, and he defended the ancestor worship of China people. However, for those who accepted Christian teachings, it seems much better to save the poor and suffering and pursue the salvation of the soul. "The implication is that China people can get closer to the Christian faith through training on the basis of respecting their ancestors. It is precisely because of the similarity between the concept of ancestor worship and the Christian belief of resurrection and salvation that Matteo Ricci showed tolerance and forbearance to the ancestor worship of China people.

Matteo Ricci believes that "Confucianism is inherent in China and the oldest one in China. China people run the country by Confucianism, and there are a lot of documents, which are far more famous than other sects. ..... No one who is famous academically or even engaged in academic research is close to any other sect. " He spoke highly of Confucius, a sage in China, calling him a great scholar and the greatest philosopher in China, inspiring his people to pursue morality with his works and followers and his own example, and being comparable to pagan philosophers. Compared with China, he gained a profound sense of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and music, and declared the prosperity of cultural relics, such as painting clouds to see the sky. So Matteo Ricci was more tolerant of Zun Kong.

Heaven and Hell ―― Utilitarianism of Matteo Ricci's Confucianism

Matteo Ricci's purpose in coming to China is very obvious, that is, to spread Christian culture in China, so that more people in China can support God and believe in Christ. One of the differences between Christianity and Confucianism lies in the concepts of heaven and hell. Matteo Ricci's explanation of heaven and hell shows utilitarianism and turns a blind eye to the views of Christianity and Confucianism about who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. He realized that Confucianism in China didn't believe in heaven and hell. "The ancients didn't seem to doubt the immortality of the soul, because for a long time after death, they often talked about the dead people and said that they had gone to heaven. But they didn't mention the punishment of the wicked in hell at all ... they said that a person's soul is strengthened by virtue and can be consolidated and lasting; But bad people are not like this. As soon as their souls leave their bodies, they dissipate like light smoke. " "Their creed includes a theory that good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil, but they seem to limit retribution only to this world and only apply to those who do bad things, according to their merits and their descendants." China people don't believe in heaven and hell. They attach importance to the world, as long as they constantly improve themselves in ethics and strive to be "saints inside and kings outside" instead of pursuing false happiness in the afterlife. Even though China people believe in heaven and hell, Confucianism and Christianity have different criteria for judging whether to go to heaven or go to hell. China people take morality as the criterion to go to heaven and go to hell respectively: those who achieve something and do good will get eternal glory in heaven; If you are guilty or wrong, you will be punished and go to hell forever. Distinguish between good and evil, good in heaven, evil in hell, look at yourself. The Christian view holds that even if you are guilty, wrong and evil, you can go to heaven as long as you sincerely repent and be loyal to God. And if a person has not been inspired by God, or does not believe in other gods, then even sages will still go to hell. This Christian doctrine carries out double standards, which makes the principle that good is rewarded with good and evil with evil seriously untrue and extremely absurd before God. But for such a huge difference, Matteo Ricci cultivated religious feelings of "fear" of hell and "temptation" of heaven, and persuaded people to finally convert to Catholicism. In this way, there is no other judgment of good and evil, only from Catholics. Although they taught heaven and earth, slowed down ghosts and gods, and disobeyed their loved ones, they were also sheltered by God and went to heaven. People who do not follow Catholicism are evil. Although they respect heaven and earth, ghosts and gods and love their loved ones, they are angry with God and go to hell. The Catholic view of heaven and hell runs counter to China's Confucianism, which attaches importance to moral cultivation, and endows Matteo Ricci's Confucianism with utilitarian color.

Fourthly, Matteo Ricci's contribution to the Confucianism of Catholicism.

Matteo Ricci's understanding of China's Confucianism has strategic considerations for missionary purposes, but it cannot be denied that he sincerely and objectively introduced China's traditional culture to the West because of the influence of Confucianism. He Zhaowu and He Gaoji thought Matteo Ricci was "the first representative of western learning spreading to the east". He not only formally introduced a lot of knowledge about western religions and science and technology to China for the first time, but also formally introduced relevant knowledge about China and its history and culture to the West for the first time. Even today, Matteo Ricci is not the most important person in the history of cultural exchange between China and the West. Matteo Ricci, the originator of European sinologists, made great contributions to the study of European sinology. The entry of Jesuits represented by Matteo Ricci into China is an epoch-making event in the history of European Sinology. Matteo Ricci first put forward the idea of "Jesus plus Confucius", which fused the eastern and western cultures. On the basis of respecting Confucianism, he integrated Catholicism and Confucianism as much as possible. This strategy was later called "Matteo Ricci's Law" by Kangxi. Facts show that only the missionary activities that believe in Matteo Ricci's rules can adapt to China society and better complete the missionary work and cultural exchanges between China and the West. Matteo Ricci's appreciation of oriental culture and tolerance of pagan customs, especially his theory of Catholic Confucianism, swept away many obstacles on the road of cultural exchange between China and the West, and set off a wave of western learning spreading to the East for nearly 200 years.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) conclusion

Matteo Ricci, the father of Chinese studies, left us first-hand information about the society in China in the late Ming Dynasty. As a pioneer of missionary work in China, he actively catered to the Confucian culture in China materially, learning Chinese, speaking Chinese, wearing Hanfu, taking the upper-class route and making friends. Mentally, he adopted the method of "Jesus plus Confucius" to integrate Confucianism, explained or attached Christianity with Confucian classics, looked for similarities between Christianity and Confucianism, and built a bridge between two different cultures. On the one hand, his view of Catholic Confucianism respects China's Confucianism and is compatible; On the other hand, in order to spread Christianity, it is utilitarian to persuade people to convert to God with the joy of heaven and the pain of hell. Generally speaking, Matteo Ricci appreciated China's Confucianism and preached by combining some similarities between Catholicism and Confucianism, which made China know the world and the world know China, and played a positive role in promoting cultural exchanges between China and the West.

References:

Fang Hao. History of Chinese and Western Communications: Volume II [M]. Taipei: China Culture University Press, 1983.

[2] (France) Dai Ren. French Contemporary China Studies [C]. Translated by Lian Kun. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press,1998.2.

[3] Fei Huahang, Xiao Ruihua. /kloc-The Catholic Church in China in the 6th century.