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ABSTRACT
Since the publication of Matteo Ricci's Tianzhu shiyi, sheng 聖 was commonly accepted as the translation of Catholic saints in China. A closer study, however, suggests that the use of sheng as the translation of saints was not an unquestioned process. In fact, the use of sheng diverged soon after the death of Matteo Ricci and disagreements continued at least into the early eighteenth century in the Catholic circle in China. This article seeks to deepen the understanding about the use of sheng as translation of saints in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century China. I focus on the examples of Alfonso Vagnone, Zhang Xingyao and Yan Mo, who represented three different approaches to sheng as the translation of saints in relation to sheng in reference to sages in the Confucian tradition. As we know, the Catholic Church eventually took the solution suggested by Yan Mo, who advocated referring to both Catholic saints and Confucian sages as sheng while maintaining a clear distinction between the two groups. But, before the decision was made in the twentieth century, there was much tension and complexity to translating the concept of Catholic saints as sheng.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Xiao Qinghe 肖清河, “‘脫凡入聖’：明末清初天主教關於“聖”的言說Tuofan ru sheng: Mingmo Qingchu Tianzhujiao guanyu “sheng” de yanshuo”, 43–91.
2 Xiao Qinghe “Tuofan ru sheng”, 50.
3 Xiao Qinghe, “Tuofan ru sheng”, 58.
4 Tianzhu shiyi, 1.21, 7.473. All citations from Tianzhu shiyi in this article are from Meynard, The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven 天主實義. Translations of citations from the Tianzhu shiyi are my own.
5 Tianzhu shiyi, 8.588, 8.599.
6 Tianzhu shiyi, 7.590.
7 Tianzhu shiyi, 6.341.
8 Tianzhu shiyi, 6.342.
9 Tianzhu shiyi, 6.348.
10 Tianzhu shiyi, 8.553.
11 The Chinese interlocutor said, “in China, the ancient people studied ‘the sagely teaching’ (shengjiao) in order to become sages” (Tianzhu shiyi, 7.445). Toward the end of the Tianzhu shiyi, the Chinese interlocutor of Ricci decided to convert to Catholicism, which he called “entering the gate of the sacred Teaching” (Tianzhu shiyi, 8.592).
12 Tianzhu shiyi, 6.390.
13 Tianzhu shiyi, 3.159.
14 Tianzhu shiyi, 6.368.
15 Wu Zhen 吳震, “Zhongguo sixiangshi shang de ‘shengren’ gainian 中國思想史上的”聖人”概念”, 14–16.
16 Analects 6.30. The translation is by Slingerland, in Analects, 63.
17 Mengzi 4A2, my own translation.
18 Wu Zhen, “Zhongguo sixiangshi shang de ‘shengren’ gainian”, 20–1.
19 Wu Zhen, “Zhongguo sixiangshi shang de ‘shengren’ gainian”, 20–2.
20 Wu Zhen, “Zhongguo sixiangshi shang de ‘shengren’ gainian”, 21.
21 “理則自堯舜至于涂人,一也。” Cited by Wu Zhen, Zhongguo sixiangshi shang de ‘shengren’ gainian”, 21. My translation.
22 Wu Zhen, “Zhongguo sixiangshi shang de ‘shengren’ gainian”, 20–2.
23 For Wang Yangming’s views on the innate conscience of human beings as “sagehood”, see Wu Zhen, “Zhongguo sixiangshi shang de ‘shengren’ gainian”, 23–4.
24 “满街都是圣人”. See Wang Yangming, “Zhixing lu 知行录”. After his student made this statement, Wang replied that everyone has the heart of a sage; in this sense, they are already sages.
25 Wu Zhen, “Zhongguo sixiangshi shang de ‘shengren’ guannian”, 24.
26 東海有聖人出焉，其心同也，其理同也；西海有聖人出焉，其心同也，其理同也。In Lu Xiangshan, Xiangshan xiansheng quanji 象山先生全集, volume 33, 7. Citations of this saying can be found in, for instance, Xu Guangqi 徐光啓, Bianxue shugao 辯學書稿, collected in Tianzhujiao dongchuan wenxian xubian 天主教東傳文獻續編, 22.
27 Shaogong (d. ca. 1000 B.C.E.), whose personal name was Shi 奭, was also known as Duke Kang 康of Shao, was the younger brother King Wu武. Together with his half-brother Duke of Zhou, he helped secure the reign of King Cheng 成, the young son of King Wu after King Wu’s death.
28 Mengzi was given the title of ya sheng in the Confucian tradition because Confucians recognized his sageliness as second only to Confucius, who was the supreme sage. In the Tianzhu shiyi, 8.553, Ricci criticizes Mengzi’s influential view that it is unfilial to have no offspring. He calls Mengzi Meng shi 孟氏 (“Mr Meng”), which was not a respectful way to refer to a person, especially for someone as renowned as Mengzi.
29 Tianzhu shiyi, 5.260.
30 Tianzhu shiyi, 8.555.
31 Tianzhu shiyi, 7.445.
32 Tianzhu shiyi, 8.582–8. 584.
33 Citations from the Tianzhu shengjiao shengren xingshi are from the version collected in Bibliothèque nationale de France, Chinois 6693.
34 This text can be found in Jap-Sin I. 59–60.
35 Matteo Ricci’s Shengjing yuelu 聖經約錄 is collected in Nicolas Standaert and Ad Dudink, Yesuhui Luoma danganguan Mingqing Tianzhujiao wenxian 耶穌會羅馬檔案館明清天主教文獻, volume 1, 89, 92, 99. Cited by Xiao Qinghe, “To be Holy”, 59.
36 See Matteo Ricci, Tianzhu jiaoyao 天主教要, collected in Nicolas Standaert and Ad Dudink, Yesuhui Luoma danganguan Mingqing Tianzhujiao wenxian 耶穌會羅馬檔案館明清天主教文獻, volume 1, 312. Cited by Xiao Qinghe, “To be Holy”, 59.
37 For Longobardo’s translation of saints as shengren, see his Shengren liepin daowen 聖人列品禱文 (“Prayer Texts by Saints of all Ranks”), which was published in 1605. Longobardo also adopted Ricci’s translation of St Michael as sheng mige’er, and St Peter as sheng boduolu 聖伯多錄, etc. Cited by Xiao Qinghe, “To be Holy”, 65.
38 Giulia Falato, Alfonso Vagnone’s Tongyou jiaoyu (On the Education of Children, c. 1632), 4–5.
39 Tongyou jiaoyu, 264, 311. All the references from the Tongyou jiaoyu in this article are from Falato’s Alfonso Vagnone’s Tongyou jiaoyu, in which she provides a Chinese text and an English translation. The Chinese text provided by Falato is primarily based on the copy preserved in Bibliotèque nationale de France, Chinois 3389.
40 Tongyou jiaoyu, 312.
41 Tongyou jiaoyu, 301.
42 Tongyou jiaoyu, 250.
43 Tongyou jiaoyu, 297.
44 Tongyou jiaoyu, 311.
45 Tongyou jiaoyu, 301.
46 Tongyou jiaoyu, 269.
47 Tongyou jiaoyu, 272.
48 Tongyou jiaoyu, 276, 328.
49 Tongyou jiaoyu, 287.
50 Tongyou jiaoyu, 254, 297, 304.
51 Tongyou jiaoyu, 297. My translation.
52 Tongyou jiaoyu, 301.
53 Li Sher-shiueh, “Saints, Demons and Penance”, 201.
54 See Nicolini-Zani, “The First ‘Life of Saint Benedict’ in Chinese”, 363.
55 Nicolini-Zani, “The First ‘Life of Saint Benedict’ in Chinese”, 64–5.
56 Nicolini-Zani, “The First ‘Life of Saint Benedict’ in Chinese”, 62.
57 Tianzhu shengjiao shengren xingshi (henceforth Shengren xingshi), “Preface.” All the citations of the shengren xingshi are from the edition collected in Bibliothèque nationale de France (Chinois 6693). The translations are my own.
58 Shengren xingshi, “Preface”.
59 Shengren xingshi, “Preface”.
60 Shengmu xingshi, 7. All the citations of the Shengmu xingshi are from the edition collected in Bibliothèque nationale de France (Chinois 6702). The translations are my own.
61 Shengmu xingshi, 19.
62 Shengmu xingshi, 7.
63 Shengmu xingshi, 8–11. This was the doctrine of the immaculate conception.
64 Shengmu xingshi, 11–13.
65 Shengmu xingshi, 13–19.
66 Shengmu xingshi, 20–1.
67 Shengmu xingshi, 21–2.
68 Given the large oeuvre of Vagnone, it is unsurprising that we can find exceptions to this observation. For instance, in his Huanyu shimo 寰宇始末 (On the Beginning and End of the Cosmos), Vagnone writes, “亙古聖賢，屢云昭事上帝，未聞昭事太極者也” (“Ancient sages had again and again said ‘[one ought to] serve the Lord-on-High.’ I have never heard them say ‘serve the Supreme Ultimate’”. The translation is mine). I thank the anonymous reviewer for this reference. One possible explanation for this exception is that Vagnone invokes the authority of ancient Chinese sages to establish the Catholic teaching about God as the creator of the cosmos, whereas in the Tongyou jiaoyu and the two texts on saints discussed in this article, he focuses on introducing Western ideas, which were largely absent in the Confucian tradition.
69 Xiao Qinghe, “To be Holy”, 60.
70 Han Lin, “Preface”.
71 Han Lin, “Preface”.
72 Mungello, The Forgotten Christians of Hang Zhou, is an excellent introduction to the life and works of Zhang Xingyao.
73 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 39. Citations from the Tian Ru tongyi kao in this article are from Zhang Xingyao, Tian Ru tongyi kao 天儒同異考.
74 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 43.
75 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 47. 自可几進于聖.
76 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 47.
77 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 64.
78 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 64.
79 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 51.
80 踵聖賢同登天國. In Zhang Xingyao, Tian Ru tongyi kao, “Preface to ‘Tianjiao he Ru’ 天教合儒”.
81 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 41, 71.
82 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 71.
83 By Yajiada, Zhang was probably referring to Agatha of Sicily (ca. 231 B.C.E.–251 B.C.E.). Tian Ru tongyi kao, 71.
84 Tian Ru tongyi kao, 70–1.
85 For contemporary scholarship on the writings of Yan Mo, see Standaert, The Fascinating; Standaert, “Coping with Ambiguity”, 77–105.
86 The Lishi tiaowen is collected in C.C.T.R.A.S.J., volume 11, ed. Adrian Dudink and Nicolas Standaert, 115–216. Caogao chaobai is collected in CCTRASJ, volume 11, 87–114.
87 For the added discussion of sheng, see Yan Mo, Caogao chaobai, 101–5.
88 Yan Mo, Caogao chaobai, 102–3.
89 This phrase can be found in Joachim Bouvet’s treatise Tianxue benyi 天學本義, which was included as a chapter in Zhang Xingyao’s Tian Ru tongyi kao. Zhang gave it a new title, “Tianjiao he Ru” 天教合儒. For Bouvet’s citation of Lu Xiangshan’s saying, see Zhang, Tian Ru tongyi kao, 19.
90 The fourteenth Quaesitum made by Morales is about the use of “sanctus, sancta and sanctum” in the Chinese ministry. I thank the anonymous reviewer for this reference.
91 My own translation. The Latin text of the Quaesita can be found on https://www.google.com/books/edition/Quaesita_missionariorum_Chinae_seu_Sinar/TshCNiVyBgsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Quaesita&printsec=frontcover (accessed 13 July 2023).
92 Francisco Varo’s Bianji is preserved in the Bianji canping 辯祭參評 written by a Chinese literatus Li Liangjue 李良爵, collected in C.C.T.R.A.S.J., volume 10, 363–438.
93 See Varo, Bianji, 366.
94 For a thorough introduction to the formation and history of Confucian rituals, see Wilson, “Sacrifice and the Imperial Cult of Confucius”, 251–87.
95 Yan Mo, Caogao chaobai, 101.
96 Yan Mo, Caogao chaobai, 103.
97 Standaert discusses the imperative of missionaries and the Chinese cultural imperative in the context of embedding Catholic elements in rituals performed in Chinese Catholic communities, especially funerals. See Standaert, Interweaving of Rituals, 199–213.
98 Yang Guangxian was a high official at the beginning of the reign of the Kangxi 康熙 Emperor (1654–1722). In the 1630s and 1640s, he wrote a series of treatises to attack Jesuit missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell 湯若望(1591–1666) and other Catholics who worked at the Imperial Observatory. For Yang Guangxian’s attack on the use of sheng by Catholic missionaries in reference to saints, see Xiao Qinghe, “To be Holy”, 81–2. Xiao also discusses other anti-Catholic Confucian’s rebuttal of the Catholic discourse of sheng, including Huang Zhen 黃貞 Xu Dashou 許大受. See Xiao, “To be Holy”, 80–1.
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Xueying Wang
Xueying Wang is Assistant Professor at The University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses on Catholicism in China, especially the Chinese Rites Controversy (ca. 1630–1742).