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Some Tentative Comments on the Influence of Ferdinand Verbiest on the Emperor Kaangxi’S Policy Towards Catholicism (试论南怀仁对康熙皇帝天主教政策的影响)*

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Some Tentative Comments on the Influence of Ferdinand Verbiest on the Emperor Kaangxi’S Policy Towards Catholicism (试论南怀仁对康熙皇帝天主教政策的影响)* CHAPTER ELEVEN SOME TENTATIVE COMMENTS ON THE INFLUENCE OF FERDINAND VERBIEST ON THE EMPEROR Kaangxi’S POLICY TOWARDS CATHOLICISM (试论南怀仁对康熙皇帝天主教政策的影响)* Lin Jinshui (林金水) Abstract Ferdinand Verbiest was not only a renowned Jesuit missionary to China, he was also an influential scientist, engineer and diplomat. He arrived in Beijing in 1660 and died there in 1688. During that time, he was very active at the imperial court. Adopting Matteo Ricci’s strategy for missionary work, he participated in the cor- rection of the calendar, and even manufactured cannon for the imperial court in time of war. As a consequence, the Emperor Kangxi had a very high opinion of him. Verbiest was connected with the “three most important events” of the reign of Kangxi—suppression of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories, reunification with Taiwan and resistance to Russian expansion into Manchuria. Directly or indirectly, he gave assistance to the Qing government and made what contribu- tion he could. His efforts significantly influenced the Emperor’s policy towards Catholicism, and encouraged the ruler and his senior ministers to accept the Catholic faith on an emotional level. Finally, in 1692, Emperor Kangxi lifted the ban on Catholicism and issued an Edict of Tolerance. The golden age of Jesuit missionary work in China followed on from this. This chapter uses materials in Chinese and other languages to examine how, by both words and actions, Ferdi- nand Verbiest influenced the Emperor’s policy towards Catholicism. Keywords: calendar; Catholicism; Jesuits; Kangxi; missionaries * From 1986 to 1988, the author was a visiting fellow at the Ferdinand Verbiest Insti- tute at Leuven University, Belgium. During that period he wrote this paper and in 1988 submitted it to the Second International Conference on Ferdinand Verbiest, in Leuven. In 1991, an abridged version was published in the first issue of Studies in World Religions (Shi- jie zongjiao yanjiu 世界宗教研究). The unabridged paper was included in Chuanjiaoshi, kexuejia, gongchengshi, waijiaojia: Nan Huairen—Luwen guoji xueshu taolunhui lunwenji 传教士·科学家·工程师·外交家：南怀仁——鲁汶国际学术讨论会论文集 (Mission- ary, scientist, engineer and diplomat: International symposium on Ferdinand Verbiest at Leuven University), which was published in 2001 by the Social Sciences Press (Shehui 324 lin jinshui Introduction Jesuit missionaries in China would normally hold more than one post at the same time; they were not only missionaries but also scientists, in a number of different fields. Today, if we try to conjure them up in front of our eyes, what we see in most cases is an expert in science or technology. Ferdinand Verbiest (Nan Huairen 南怀仁) was one of their number, and a well-known missionary. In common with his predecessors Matteo Ricci (Li Madou 利玛窦) and Johann Adam Schall von Bell (Tang Ruowang 汤若望), Verbiest appears in almost every encyclopedia in the world, but in these limited and rather sketchy biographies, we find him described more often as a astronomer than as a missionary.1 Even the latest New Catholic Encyclopedia defines him as an “astronomer.”2 This is quite fas- cinating, and ties in with the increasing research interest in the Jesuits in recent years. As I have said elsewhere, “This is why people today take such a positive view of them.”3 Bearing in mind China’s needs as it opens up to the outside world, it is of course useful to examine the historical role of the early missionaries as “guest experts” or “scientific advisers,” and reflect on what was learned from it.4 But it was, after all, as a Jesuit missionary that Ferdinand Verbiest came to China, and his actions in the following twenty-eight years played an important role in the formulation of Emperor Kangxi’s policy towards Catholicism. It is generally agreed, both by people alive at the time, and kexue chubanshe 社会科学出版社). What follows is the unabridged version and, with the exception of a few words, has not been revised. Translator’s note: An earlier English version of this paper has appeared under the title “The Influence of Ferdinand Verbiest on the Policy of the Kangxi Emperor towards Christi- anity,” in John W. Witek, S.J., ed., Ferdinand Verbiest, 1623–1688: Jesuit Missionary, Scientist, Engineer and Diplomat (Nettetal: Steyler Verlag, 1994), pp. 349–381. 1 See The New Encyclopedia Britannica and The Encyclopedia Americana (International Edition). 2 See the entry on Ferdinand Verbiest, New Catholic Encyclopedia. 3 Lin Jinshui 林金水, “Li Madou shuru diyuanshuo de yingxiang yu yiyi 利马窦输 入地圆说的影响与意义” (Influence and significance of the theory of a round earth introduced by Matteo Ricci), Wen shi zhe 文史哲 (Literature, history, and philosophy), 5 (1985), p. 29. 4 Gu Weiying 古伟瀛, “Chaoting yu jiaohui zhijian: Zhongguo Tianzhujiao shi zhong de Nan Huairen 朝廷与教会之间：中国天主教史中的南怀仁” (Between the Imperial Court and the Holy See: Ferdinand Verbiest in the history of Chinese Catholicism), in Nan Huairen shishi sanbai zhounian guoji xueshu taolunhui lunwenji 南怀仁逝世三百周年国 际学术讨论会论文集 (Proceedings of the International Symposium in Commemoration of the Tercentenary of the Death of Ferdinand Verbiest) (hereinafter referred to as “The Symposium.”) (Taipei: Fu Jen Catholic University Press, 1987)..
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