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Download Download ADAM BOHNET MATTEO RICCI AND NICOLAS TRIGAULT'S DESCRIPTIONS OF THE LITER.\TI OF CHINA Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) and the many Jesuit priests who followed Matteo Ricci's lead pursued a policy of cooperation with the scholar-offi- cials, the educated (Confucians, of China. Ricci did not cooperate merely on a political level; on the contrary, he attempted to harmonize the Confucian intellectual and cultural heritage of China with the religious claims of European Christianit}-. In the process he played a key role in introducing not only Western European Catholic Civilization to China, but also Chinese Confucian civilization to Western Europe. His 'pre-evangeli- cal dialogue'' Tian:^ushiyi and many other books introduced various aspects of European culture in addition to its religion, including the philosophies of Aristotle and Epictetus and European science and geo- graphical knowledge. Equally important, the Latin translation of his jour- nals. Storia delFhitrodM-:^one del Cristiaiiesiwo in Cina,- provided some of the first solid information concerning China that Europeans had yet received."* This new information concerning China and Confucius introdviced into Europe bv the Jesuits was to play a significant cultural role in the Enlightenment, attracting the interest of such and-clerical intellectuals as Hume and Voltaire.-* Unfortunately, the Latin translation of the Storia, De Christiana Hxpeditione apud Sinas Snscepta ah Societate lesti (Llenceforth to be referred to as De Christiana) by another Jesuit, Nicholas Trigault (1577- 1628), did not follow Ricci's original very closely at all. On the contrary, Trigault changed a fair number of details to attract European support for the Jesuit mission in China and their accommodationist method. This is especially noticeable in his translation of the descriptions of the Confucian scholar-officials, or literati, in which he idealizes the literati and emphasizes the positive elements of their characters. The influence new knowledge concerning China had on Western lit- erature is well known. Through the writings on (China by the Jesuits, writ- ers and thinkers of the Enlightenment gained knowledge, and otten QUADERNI d'italianisthci, Vt)lume XXI, No, 2, 2000, 77 Adam Bohnet respect, for Confucius and Confucianism. For instance, Voltaire saw in Confucius an example of a thinker who "established a religion which con- sists of being just." He claimed that Confucius was "not by any means a prophet, he by no means spoke through inspiration, he knew of no inspi- ration other than continual attention to overcoming his desires" (Song 154). He classed Confucius with Epicurus, Socrates and Cicero (Song 171). He disputed the claim, made by many, that Confucius was an atheist, and, in fact, associated Confucius's religious ideas with his own — that is, he saw in the Tìuìì or 'Heaven' of Confucius "the eternal judge" of his own deistic ideas. He understood the Chinese religion to be free of "superstitions, absurd legends, and those dogmas which insult reason and namre" (Song 173). Hume, also, in his Essays, was to describe the literati of China as "the only regular body of deists in the universe." (Part I, Essay X. page 78 in Miller's edition) Concerning Chinese government, the English author Robert Burton used the example of the meritocratic Confucian literati to satirize the hereditary nobilit}- of Europe and espe- cially England: unlike the elite of England, the literati of China were actu- ally required to work and be qualified for their positions of respect (Fan 74). To what extent did this vision of a peaceable kingdom of deists devel- op on account of Ricci? Of course. Ricci has an important place in the his- tory of publication of books on China and Confucianism. His Storia was a document of immense value. It was written by Ricci near the end of his life (Foss 3), after he had spent many years in Chinese society. As Ricci says of himself: ... già trenta anni viviamo in questo regno, discorressimo per le sue più nobili e principali provincie, trattiamo continuamente in ambedue le Corti i più principali e grandi magistrati e letterati del regno, parliamo la loro lingua, e imparassimo molto di proposito i loro riti e costumi, e finalmente, quello che più importa, di giorno e di notte, habbiamo nelle mani i loro libri. {Storia, Lib. I, Gap. I, N. 3) trav- [. we have lived more than thirt)' years in this kingdom, have eled through its most honorable and important provinces, have dealt, continuously, in the two courts [Beijing and Nanjing], with the most important magistrates and intellecmals of the kingdom, we speak their language, have learned very earnestly their rites and cus- toms, and finally, what is most important, have their books in our hands day and night.] However, the Storia itself was not read until Tacchi Venmri published them at the beginning of the 20* Century (D'Elia CXLIII). The version — 78 — TMI' LiTI.RATI ()1 (Jll\.\ to be propagated in lairope was not the Italian one written by Ricci, but the Latin translation bv the Belgian priest Nicolas Trigault. While tor the most part Trigault simply translated Ricci's Italian text into Latin, he significantlv changed a large number of details, in the process increasing the praise of Confucius and the (Confucian literati. He undertook this task despite the fact that, having only been in (^hina for two years, he was not verv knowledgeable (Foss 8). Trigault's motivation was not that of a scholar so much as that of a propagandist. As Lamalle points out, Trigault, following the commands of his superior Nicolò Longobardo (1565-1655), spent the period between 1615 and 1617 traveling through Rurope trving to gain financial support, acquire books and presents for the emperor, recruit new missionaries and negotiate greater autonomy (Lamalle 50, 65, "^1, "^3). He was, moreover, extremely successful as a pro- pagandist, gaining a great deal of practical support as a result of his tour of Europe (Lamalle 50). Trigault's translation of the Storia should be seen from this perspective. According to Foss, Trigault's rew^orking of the text was never intended "as a simple translation of a work on China; it was to be a carefullv wrought propaganda piece w'hich was to serve as an exam- ple of and plea for the (Christian mission in China"(13). Especially, he aimed to create a book which w^as "svmpathetic to the Chinese, laudatory of the Jesuits and full of direct and indirect appeals for help" (Foss 13). A detailed analvsis of the text reveals many such propagandist elements. As Foss points out, Trigault omits Ricci's descriptions of concubinage, pros- titution, and pederast^' as found in Cliina (Foss 15. Storia Lib. I, Cap. IX, NN. 154-156). Foss suggests that the reason for this omission was Trigault's desire not to slur the reputation of Chinese societ}' "the reputa- tion of which he was trying to build"(15). Thus, Europeans received their first accurate picmre of China and of the Chinese literati, not direcdy from Ricci, a man who had been in China for thirt}' years, but filtered and altered b\- Trigault. The literati of Trigault and Ricci were, of course, the Confucian schol- ar-officials of China. Ricci called, in fact, Confucianism the 'Sect of the Literati'. (-L^^f de letterati, Storia Lib. I, Cap. X, N'N. 175^ In this he was, one mi^t argue, pro^iding a better translation of the Chinese Kiijiao than the term 'Confucianism' used bv modern scholars.'' As Ching says, the Chinese themselves generallv refer to Confucianism as 'Knjia or Rjijiao, "the school or teachings of the scholars" (Kiing and Ching, 65). The Chinese had their own examples of idealized literati, not only Confucius (552-479 BCE), but many others as well, including the Yin dynast)' (1711P-1066? BCE) litera- ms Bovi, who preferred death to serving under the new Zhou dynast)". — 79 — . Adam Bohnet The reason for Ricci's great interest in, and regard for, these Chinese literad was not a desire to establish an example of a dogma-free society and ideology for the anti-clerical philosophers of the 18* century. While presumably he sincerely believed that Confucianism and Chrisdanity were compatible, his interest must also have been spurred by the practical need of a missionary to accommodate the religious ideas of Europe with the social system of China, and, especially, to insure that the new mission remained on good terms with the scholar-officials of China. As Ching says, "It was a calculated move, made for reasons of expediency as well as convictions" (13). He and the Jesuits after him were able to accommodate Confucianism because of their belief in natural theology. Natural theology, "or the knowl- edge that man can have of the existence of the nature of God by means of reason" had gained new importance with the age of discovery, becom- ing "a real issue in trying to present Catholicism to millions of people out- side of Europe"(Witek 311). The Jesuits, who at times referred to such pagan European philosophers as Seneca and Epictetus as saints, and to Socrates as a mart\T (Spalatin 72), had an especially strong orientation towards namral theology. So it is was with Ricci who, although he was very critical of Neo-Confucianism, argued that the Confucians of ancient China had, through the light of reason, come closer to the truth than any other pagan nation. Thus, in the first chapter of the Storia^ Ricci says: Di Tutte le gentilità venute a nodtia della nostra Europa non so di nessuna che avesse manco errori intorno alle cose della religione di quello che ebbe la Cina nella sua prima antichità. ... Di dove si può sperare dalla immensa bontà del Signore, che molti di quegU antichi si salvassero nella legge naturale, con quello agiuto particolare che suole Iddio porgere, a quegli che di sua parte fanno quanto possono per riceverlo.
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