霍啟昌 FOK Kaicheong

The "Macao Formula" In Crisis Over Quest for Spiritual Faith

The "Macao Formula" had stemmed from special historical circumstances and events leading to the worsening of the "Wokou problem" and the rise of problems related to the coming of the first batch of Europeans by sea, the Portuguese, during the first few decades of the sixteenth century. Even though relations with the Portuguese under the formula did not gain direct imperial endorsement throughout the Ming dynasty, it was, nevertheless, passively tolerated. The fact that the trade made permissible under the formula could satisfy imperial needs for foreign rarities and at the same time keep the militarily formidable Portuguese in check, certainly helped to keep the opposition by the staunchly doctrinaire central officials at bay. After the Ming dynasty fell, the formula was continued for practical political reasons by the Qing in dealing with the Portuguese in Macao. Consequently, the Qing not only continued the Ming trend of strengthening the local defense system around the Macao area but also successfully extended civil administration control over Macao's foreign settlement. Based on the study of Sino-Western relations according to the Macao experiences, it is clear that from the point of view of the Qing emperor, the concept of "dujian fangwei" (forestall the growth of abuses by strict enforcement of preventive measures) served its purpose of asserting imperial power in the frontier regions. Since Macao was recognized as a sea frontier port in this area by the Qing, measures and regulations to control the foreigners must be viewed as part of the "dujian fangwei" policy of the early Qing emperors to consolidate political control and to enforce national security measures in this frontier area.

During the lifetime of Wuli (1632-1718) and under the Macao formula, even though there were no major eruptions of hostilities between the Portuguese community and the late Ming and early Qing governments, there were various occasions when Sino-western relations were strained in Macao. One was the crisis over the spiritual quest for an alien faith, Catholicism, by Chinese residents in Macao and its immediate vicinities. This study first traces the genesis of the crisis then it makes a thorough examination of an outstanding case of such a crisis, the affair of "Nossa Senhora do Amparo" when, in 1747, Qing local officials closed down this Catholic seminary which sparked off resistance from the foreign community. The findings of this examination will serve to illustrate how the principles and rationale behind the Macao formula were being actually applied to manage foreign affairs, including the spread of the Catholic faith in Macao and its immediate vicinities. This case study particularly sheds light on the flexibilities and discrepancies in the actual execution of the Macao formula. More importantly, it will illustrate that political considerations were the primary factor leading to the early Qing emperors' suppression of Christianity.

César Guillén-Nuñez

Science and Art: The college and church of Madre de Deus at the time of Wu Li

Wu Li arrived at the College of Madre de Deus in 1681 on his way to Europe. For rather mysterious reasons he never left, staying behind at the Jesuit College in Macao. In fact, the city and College were to provide his only experience of the West. At the time of his arrival the High Baroque style had reached its zenith, often in the colleges of the Society of Jesus in Europe. But it was equally a time when Western science had reached conclusions that came into direct conflict with Roman Catholic beliefs.

Although contemporary art historians have already addressed aspects of the conflict in Europe, this paper examines its repercussions for the Society of Jesus in Macao. To begin with, the Jesuits' zeal for modern science, especially astronomy, is evident in their scientific endeavours in China and probably in the little-known curriculum of the College of Madre de Deus. But in what seems like a contradiction, the images and iconography of the decoration of the Church of Madre de Deus, as well as the Jesuits' use of ephemeral structures, emblems and religious spectacles in Macao provide first-hand evidence of the strict Tridentine theology that they largely espoused. In his writings Wu Li has left a brief yet precious poetic account of the religious spectacles staged by the Jesuits in the city. He was evidently equally aware of the importance they attached to science. Wu Li's internal conflict and spiritual progress in Macao should therefore be located in the midst of the historic clash between Western science and religion, a clash that nonetheless resulted in a more poetic and spiritual art in the Macao College and Church.

韓琦 Han Qi

Chinese Catholics & their activities in the Jiangnan Region (1669-1702): new research through archival documents

In the first years of Kangxi, the anti-religion case instigated by Yang Guangxian against the development of Catholicism led to a very great offensive which, for science and society alike, generated a deep and far reaching influence. Up to now no deep and penetrating research has ever been done on the situation of the faithful after the anti-religion case in the Jiangnan region (that is mainly Songjiang, Jiading, Taicang, Changshu, Suzhou, Jiangding, etc.). In reality, during the years 1700-1702, the "Rites Controversy" reached its climax. The Jesuits, in order to gain support for ancestor worship and the sacrifice to Confucius, in every place collected extensively the "certificate of oath" so as to make the Church authorities hear the voice of the Chinese faithful. Since the Jiangnan region was the stronghold of Catholic propagation, a great number of faithful at the request of the Jesuits expressed their own views on the question of the rites.

This paper intends, on the basis of newly discovered material, to discuss the role that the Jiangnan faithful have played in the midst of the "Rites Controversy", their views regarding the sacrifice to Confucius, ancestor worship, and their relation to the Jesuits, with the hope to gain a clearer knowledge of the History of Chinese Catholicism at the time of Kangxi. In addition, the paper hopes to form a better understanding of the epoch Wu Li lived in and his religious life in the Jiangnan region.

Glenn Timmermans

Michael Shen Fuzong's Journey to the West: A Chinese Christian Painted at the Court of James II

When Philippe Couplet SJ left China in 1681 for a tour of Europe, where he planned to promote the Jesuit's China Mission and plead the Jesuit cause before Pope Innocent XI, he was to be accompanied by five Chinese candidates for the priesthood, including Wu Li (Simon de Cunha) and Shen Fuzhong (Michael Shen). In the end only Michael Shen and another young candidate left with Couplet, and after a delay in Batavia, only Michael Shen went with Couplet on that tour of Europe.

In France, Shen was presented to Louis XIV at Versailles and in England he was granted an audience with James II who ordered the court artist, Sir Godfrey Kneller, to paint Shen's portrait, which was then hung in the king's bedchamber. That portrait still hangs at Windsor Castle. Shen also visited Oxford, where he helped catalogue the Bodleian Library's collection of Chinese books.

Using what little information we really have of Shen's journey with Couplet through the royal and papal courts of Europe, this paper will examine that encounter between a young Jesuit candidate and the English king. This meeting was only possible during a brief period in post-Reformation English history, when the king was a Roman Catholic and Jesuits were received at court. A year later, in 1688, James II was deposed and replaced by the Protestant William III, and so that encounter between king, Jesuit, and artist — James II, Michael Shen Fuzong, and Sir Godfrey Kneller — could not otherwise have happened. But the result of that encounter was an important Western portrait of a Chinese subject, and hence also its name, "The Chinese Convert". This paper will try to read that portrait as a Western idea of China and the Chinese, as well as an idealised view of the Chinese Christian convert in the context of English domestic and religious politics.

This encounter was also a moment of lost opportunity, for had Wu Li been on that journey, as originally planned, it would have been a meeting between an important Chinese artist and a Western artist, and Wu Li may, instead, have been the subject of that portrait. This is a "what if" moment, so tantalising to historians, and one which allows us to speculate on what the influence on Wu Li's own art may have been. Of that we can only conjecture, but the portrait of Michael Shen — the Chinese Convert — is itself a rich subject for discussion.

駱潔 Luo Jie

The Missionaries and the Conversion of Wu Li to Christianity

This paper, taking Wu Li's contacts with the missionaries as its principal foundation and in connection with Wu Yuchan's epochal background and humanistic outlook, attempts to analyze the causes of his religious conversion.

The paper first looks at his epochal background and humanistic outlook. Yushan lived in a time of transition between epochs, specifically during the timeframe of the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing, when officials and literati of Han nationality were conducting an examination of philosophical thought that dated back from Song and Ming times. Yushan received the influence of the point of view that Chen Hu, his master in the School of Principle, had about this philosophy. Changshu, where Yushan lived, was a place remarkable by its site and personalities; and from the friends and masters who were in contact with him since his young age, Yushan received the influence of "noble souls and firm characters" along with that of the contemporary "vogue of Chan meditative retreat." Although his contacts with his meditative Chan friends were principally for exchange of paintings and calligraphy, he was influenced by his master Chen Hu, so that he most probably could not accept the Buddhist tenet of "emptiness".

Second: the paper takes a view at the Sino-Western cultural exchange as background for his religious conversion. At the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing, the missionaries entered China and adopted a "strategy of accomodation." Many literati and officials took at heart the Western learning. Both sides made efforts so that the Chinese and Western religious philosophies developed an inchoative and effectively fruitful exchange. The Catholic doctrine became the spirit and refuge that these officials were looking for, a peaceful place in the land of thought. Third: the paper looks at how Yushan came into contact with Western learning, along with his association with the missionaries:

1. Since the end of the Ming, Changshu had become a place of propagation of Catholicism. Just to the side of Yan Zi's residence, where Yushan passed his childhood, was a Catholic church and one may speak of a long day by day influence on Yushan from that church.

2. The understanding of Catholicism, which his masters and friends had, exerted some influence on Yushan. In the midst of his contacts with Qian Qianyi, Xu Zhijian and others, Yushan must have obtained some knowledge of what Catholicism was all about.

3. Yushan himself came directly into contact with the missionaries. As Fathers François de Rougemont, Philippe Couplet and others were teaching the doctrine in the Jiang Nan region, Yushan had occasions to get acquainted with them and their doctrine and discourse necessarily could have moved his heart. By that time, Yushan's master Chen Hu and his Chanist friend, Morong, had all already passed away so it is natural in a number of ways that Yushan was free to enter the religion.

In conclusion, Yushan entered religion under the influence of the general background of his time and of the humanistic background of his life. It was also a kind of the choice made by the traditional Chinese intellectuals after reflecting on the thought of the tradition and it is still more one of the successful examples of the apostolic strategy of the missionaries of that time.

黃鐵池 Huang Tiechi

The Status and Influence of Wu Li in the History of Chinese Modern Painting

The status and influence of Wu Li in the history of Chinese modern painting is somewhat special and it ought to be examined within the context of the history of the entire development of modern painting and the general background, as well, of the evolution of the Chinese schools of modern painting.

First, Wu Li was regarded as the terminator of the "traditional" (also called "orthodox") genre of landscape painting. Of his paintings he made before the age of 50, could "cross over the fence" of the influence of the Four Wangs (four master painters: 王時敏 Wang Shimin, 王鑑 Wang Jian, 王原祁 Wang Yuanqi, 王翬 Wang Hui). Wu Li himself had been chasing after the so-called "ethos of copying" from the former masters in which "any stroke has its reason." But after Wu Li went to Shanghai and came into contact with Western painting, which had just been introduced, his sense of art appreciation was updated; particularly when he returned to Shanghai from Macau after his religious training, he seemed to have put a new and vigorous breath in his paintings, Although these changes were extraordinarily small, it is "by one single leaf that one knows it is Autumn." In this way, the fact that such a painter, who had scrupulously abided by traditional painting skills for years, had begun to change of direction was a significant indication of coming changes in landscapes styles in China. Obviously, to the public, Wu Li's changes were a message: the landscape painting of the old style, which had ruled over the painting scene for several hundreds of years, was going to come to its end. Although the overwhelming force of habit kept the old style around for some time, there is nevertheless no doubt that the change in Wu Li's painting style was actually the beginning of its fall.

Next, Wu Li was a pioneer among those Chinese modern landscape painters who had tried Western painting skills. Wu Li's painting career may be divided into two phases, roughly speaking around the year 1685. Before that date, Wu Li was an accomplished master of the orthodox, Yushan Painting School. In the works of his later years, though, he frequently intermingled some of the expressions dominant in Occidental painting with Chinese painting, a practice which was the result of the subtle influence he had received from Western paintings. Wu Li, at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, had already been able to absorb from Western paintings beneficial nourishment to recreate the stereotyped landscape painting skills, a kind of avant-garde, which exerted on later painters, especially all those landscape painters of the Haishang Painting School, some immense influence.

Still more, Wu Li was also the precursor of the famous "Haishang Painting School," which surged in Shanghai at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China. At the time when he was active in Shanghai, it was still the Emperor Kangxi's epoch at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty. After Wu Li's return from Macao to Shanghai, his main activities were missionary work, which included instructing disciples, and painting. Wu Li was the first famous painter who had moved to Shanghai where he supported himself by selling his paintings, which were similar to those painters of the Yangzhou Painting School, and for the Haishang painters of later time, he went out on a new road.

Wu Li lived at the turning point of a radical transformation from the old to a new painting style. His special life experience had enabled him to take a lead in experimenting with the combination of Chinese and Western painting skills, and to exert a role as precursor in the formation of the Haishang Painting School. It is therefore worthwhile for us to renew our vision of, and increase our attention to, his status and influence in the history of Chinese modern painting.

聞立鼎 Wen Liding

A brief discourse on the external factors of Wu Li's change of thought

At the end of Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was overshadowed by dismay and void. Within this void, the Queen Mother, the Queen and the princes were subsequently baptized into the Catholic faith. Through a close observation of the accelerated spreading of Catholicism at late Ming and early Qing epoch, and the reflection of Wu Li's spiritual milieu in his poems, the purpose of this essay is to examine the cause and process of Wu Li's change of thought.

Wu Li was a descendant of Confucius' only disciple from the South, Yan-yan (courtesy name Zi-you, from Chang Shu). According to tradition, it is believed that the Wu family home dated originally from the time of Yan-yan. Actually, numerous vestiges of Wu Li are still found in Chang Shu.

Wolfgang Kubin

The translation of the 'Other': towards a theory of Wu Li's poetry

Wu Li is quite an unusual thinker both in his times and even today. I find in his work a lot of new strings of though which could help to minimize sometimes very much stressed relations between East and West. For instance Wu Li's poetry on Macao (Aomen Zayong) is quite unusual in many respects. The poet is aware that he faces a new world after entering Macao from Guandong province. He tries to translate the new world which he is facing both for himself and the foreigners in Macao. In this respect he has the unusual conciousness that there must be something alien for the Chinese and for the Europeans, something that cannot be explained in the context of both world views. In this respect it seems very likely that Wu Li is able to develop traces of a hermeneutic thinking that reminds us of the hermeneutic approach which Gadamer and others developed at the end of the 20th century in the Western world. My approach will be mostly based on the poetry of Wu Li, especially on the cycle "Songs of Macao" (Aomen Zayong).

章文欽 Zhang Wenqin

On the value of Wu Yushan's human life

The value of one person's life does not reside in the glory or wealth one might have fully enjoyed while living. This form of value is what Wu Yushan called "false felicity, ephemeral happiness." The perpetual value of human life has to be what ancient Chinese sages were summing up in edifying virtue, grounding merit, and forging maxims, what they called the "three imperishables." To the sages, these were "virtue in men's heart," "merit towards the country," and "maxims handed down and remembered forever."

Wu Yushan lived at the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasty, an epoch when "heaven fell apart and earth loosened up." From his childhood, he took the oath to not serve as an official in the new establishment. Thus, there was no further reason to ground "merits towards the country" for him. However, as one of the young adherents to a former dynasty who grew up in this roily period of change from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, he insisted on such ideas of being loyal to the old empire all his life. As an offspring of famous literati, he had been cultivated with refined Chinese cultural attainments. In poetry, calligraphy and painting, he had achieved the fame of having perfect "Triple Mastery." However, in spite of such unique skills, he chose rather to live a poor and humble life. The intellectuals esteemed his reputation and behavior and addressed him respectfully as "Eminent Scholar Wu." People would for thousand years afterwards come to admire his lofty spirit.

Because of his disdain for the "bogus wealth" and "temporary felicity" of the secular world, Yushan, in his forties and later, progressively devoted his mind to Western learning. When he was nearly fifty years old, he studied the Christian faith at St. Paul's College in Macao and entered the Society of Jesus. After returning to the Jiang Nan region, he was ordained a Catholic priest and did missionary work in Shanghai and the Jiading area for about thirty years. Having reached the age of 87 years old, and due to ill health, he passed away in Shanghai. He had entirely devoted the latter half of his life to God; considering the study, the cultivation and the propagation of the Christian faith as his responsibility, following the examples of Francis Xavier and other earlier worthy members of the Jesuit order and persevered in seeking immortal life and eternal felicity in the Kingdom of Heaven.

In order to render the "Learning of Heaven" more adapted to the compost of Chinese culture, Yushan had exerted his energy in inheriting the tradition of "synthesizing Chinese and Western cultures," as initiated at the end of Ming times by those earlier Catholic sages such as Xu Guangqi. Wu Yushan even tried, through poems on the "Learning of Heaven," to combine Chinese and Western literature and, in compiling the Tian Yue Zheng Yin Pu (Compendium of Orthodox Sounds of Heavenly Music), to combine Chinese and Western music. In order to study the differences between Chinese and Western paintings and scripts, with assiduity and endurance, Wu Yushan learned Latin (in spite of his old age). In the conclusion of his Chronicle of Mr. Wu Yushan, Professor Chen Yuan praises him, saying "[s]ince Matteo Ricci entered China, many scholars followed him but that a scholar enters religion to be a friar, Mr. Wu Yushan is the first case." At end of the Ming Dynasty among those scholars who followed Matteo Ricci, Xu Guangqi was the most outstanding and we may therefore say that both Xu Guangqi and Wu Yushan respectively represent the epoch of crossing currents between Chinese and Western cultures in the time of change from Ming to Qing Dynasty.

During all his life, whether as "Eminent Scholar Wu" or "adherent to the Ming Dynasty" or "as Chinese scholar and friar of the "Learning of Heaven," Wu Yushan had always kept his remarkable image and outstanding personality. His virtue deserved to remain in people's hearts and his words to be remembered for long ages to come. About Wu Yushan one may say that to merit honor is certainly due and in this resides the value of his life.

何琦 He Qi

Comments on the three stages of interpretation in China, of Nadal's "Pictures of the Gospel Stories"

I. Tentative analysis of works of Late Ming and Early Qing epoch, when Western art infiltrates into the East.

1. Jerome Nadal's works reproduced in various Chinese editions.

2. The "Western style" in the midst of Wu Li 's scenery ink paintings.

II. Influence of Chinese "craftsmen" art on the Rococo style.

1. Influence of Sino-Western trade during the 17th and 18th centuries on the interest for European art.

2. Comparable nature of Chinese "craftsmen" art and Rococo style.

余三樂 Yu Sanle

The pioneers of seeking truth from the West: the generation of giants among Late Ming intelligentsia

In late Ming dynasty, Wang Yangming's thought of the "School of the Heart" and Zen Buddhism have generated an atmosphere of empty learning. This couldn't solve the problems of the world and also prevented the enlightened intelligentsia from seeking the truth in the midst of the non-personal world. It showed that Chinese civilization, since that time, had gradually stopped to advance.

There were some intellectuals who did not like this atmosphere of empty learning and Xu Guangqi is an excellent example of them. They were looking for a practical learning and were strongly interested in the "Western learning" through what they knew of it from the Western missionaries who had come to China. These scholars were all great men who always thought about the Chinese nation and its people. In an effort to serve the Chinese nation and its people, scholars like Xu Guangqi studied the Western learning very hard. These scholars had no traditional prejudice about "the ravine between Chinese and foreigners". They said "In the seas of the East, in the seas of the West, the heart is the same, the reason is the same." They opened their eyes to look at the world in a way that Chinese people never knew. They paid great attention to transmit the Western learning to other people. They compiled books, translated books and wrote prefaces for the works composed by the missionaries. And many of them tried their best to turn their hopes into reality. Rewriting the calendar was an example. With great courage some of them became Christians by converting to Christianity, which was a new and strange religion to the eyes of the Chinese people. Generally speaking, I cannot say that one religion is better than another. But I would like to say that Christianity and the related advanced science and technology benefited people more than Buddhism in China during the late Ming till early Qing times.

Conclusion: this special group of Chinese intellectuals were the pioneers who sought truth from the West — they were a "generation of giants" among the intelligentsia during the late Ming Dynasty.