Modern History Sourcebook:
The Chinese Rites Controversy, 1715
The Chinese Rites Controversy, 1715
The primary goal of the Jesuits was to spread Catholicism, but here they had a problem. The Chinese elite were attached to Confucianism which provided the framework of both state and home life. Part of Confucian practice involved veneration of the ancestors. The Jesuits tried to argue, in Rome, that these "Chinese Rites" were social, not religious, ceremonies, and that converts should be allowed to continue to participate. [The debate was not, as is sometimes thought, about whether the liturgy could be in Chinese rather than Latin]. This claim by the Jesuits may have been disingenuous. Although in later European commentary on China it has continued to be claimed that Confucianism is a "philosophy" and not a "religion" - because it does not conform to the model of western religions, the pope was probably correct in his assessment that the Confucian rituals were indeed in conflict with Christian teaching. As a result, he gave up a very good opportunity to convert a significant part of the Chinese elite to Catholicism.
The Kangxi emperor, one of China's greatest, was at first friendly to the Jesuit Missionaries working in China. By the end of the seventeenth century they had made many converts.
From Decree of K'anghsi (1692)
From S.
Neill, A History of Christian Missions (Harmondsworth:
Penguin Books ]964), pp. 189l90.
From Decree of Pope Clement XI (1715)
Pope Clement XI wishes to make the following facts
permanently known to all the people in the world....
I. The West calls Deus [God] the creator of Heaven,
Earth, and everything in the universe. Since the word Deus does not
sound right in the Chinese language, the Westerners in China and
Chinese converts to Catholicism have used the term "Heavenly Lord"
for many years. From now on such terms as "Heaven" and "Shangti"
should not be used: Deus should be addressed as the Lord of Heaven,
Earth, and everything in the universe. The tablet that bears the Chinese words
"Reverence for Heaven" should not be allowed to hang inside a
Catholic church and should be immediately taken down if already there.
II. The spring and autumn worship of Confucius, together
with the worship of ancestors, is not allowed among Catholic converts. It is
not allowed even though the converts appear in the ritual as bystanders,
because to be a bystander in this ritual is as pagan as to participate in it
actively.
III. Chinese officials and successful candidates in the
metropolitan, provincial, or prefectural examinations, if they have been
converted to Roman Catholicism, are not allowed to worship in Confucian temples
on the first and fifteenth days of each month. The same prohibition is
applicable to all the Chinese Catholics who, as officials, have recently
arrived at their posts or who, as students, have recently passed the
metropolitan, provincial, or prefectural examinations.
IV. No Chinese Catholics are allowed to worship ancestors
in their familial temples.
V. Whether at home, in the cemetery, or during the time of
a funeral, a Chinese Catholic is not allowed to perform the ritual of ancestor
worship. He is not allowed to do so even if he is in company with nonChristians.
Such a ritual is heathen in nature regardless of the circumstances.
Despite the above decisions, I have made it clear that
other Chinese customs and traditions that can in no way be interpreted as
heathen in nature should be allowed to continue among Chinese converts. The way
the Chinese manage their households or govern their country should by no means
be interfered with. As to exactly what customs should or should not be allowed
to continue, the papal legate in China will make the necessary
decisions. In the absence of the papal legate, the responsibility of making
such decisions should rest with the head of the China mission and the Bishop of
China. In short, customs and traditions that are not contradictory to Roman
Catholicism will be allowed, while those that are clearly contradictory to it
will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
From Decree of Kangxi (1721)
Reading this proclamation, I have concluded that the
Westerners are petty indeed. It is impossible to reason with them because they
do not understand larger issues as we understand them in China. There is
not a single Westerner versed in Chinese works, and their remarks are often
incredible and ridiculous. To judge from this proclamation, their religion is
no different from other small, bigoted sects of Buddhism or Taoism. I have
never seen a document which contains so much nonsense. From now on, Westerners
should not be allowed to preach in China, to avoid further trouble.
From China
in Transition, 15171911, Dan J. Li, trans. (New York: Van Nostrand
Reinhold Company, 1969), p. 22.
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(c)Paul Halsall Aug 1997
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
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