THE COMPARISON BETWEEN CHINESE and WESTERN CULTURE the Confrontation Between Christianity and the Late Ming Empire, Caused by Th

CHAPTER9

THE COMPARISON BETWEEN CHINESE AND WESTERN CULTURE

The confrontation between Christianity and the Late Ming Empire, caused by the Christian mission, was a cultural collision with a political dimension. The narrow ideological attack by the conservative literati which accompanied the persecution by the imperial state, therefore, was involved with a wider ideological dimension, that is the general encounter between Chinese ideology and Christianity, representing Western ideology. Because of the scientific content of the Jesuit enterprise, the scope of the encounter enlarged to cover both religion and science. In the confrontation between Christianity and the Late Ming Empire, the Chinese literati, both conservative and enlightened persons, no matter what attitudes they held toward Western culture, had of necessity to compare the Chinese culture with it, thereby improving their understanding of both Chinese and Western cultures and deciding their attitudes to them. When the conservative literati charged Christianity with being an adversary of Chinese culture, they in fact made a comparison between two cultures, while the Chinese Christian apologists even while refuting the allegations against Christianity, also had to make a comparison to decide their attitude towards Western culture. In other words, their attitude was a natural conclusion drawn from the comparison. In their apologies, Xu Guangqi and Yang Tingyun had already expressed their understanding of Christianity and their basic attitude towards it when they were defending the reputation of the Jesuits. For example, Xu Guangqi presented a very brief outline of Christian teaching in his apology to let the emperor know the basic principles of Christianity, I necessarily restricted by the character and the length of the memorial. lt was impossible and not necessary for Xu Guangqi to expound the Christian teachings in detail to refute all the charges against the Christians. So, in this chapter, we will uncover the apologists' comparison between Chinese and Western culture, then expound their understanding ofChristianity.

I He says: "According to their teachings, the service of Heaven (Shangdi) is the fundamental principle; the protection of the body and the salvation of the soul are of utmost importance; loyalty (Zhong), filial piety (Xiao), compassion (Ci), and love (Ai) are accomplishments (gongfu); the reformation of errors and the practice ofvirtue are initial steps; repentance and the purification of sin are the prerequisites for personal improvement; the true felicity of celestial life is the glorious reward of doing good; and the etemal misery of hell is the recompense of doing evil." (Wang Chongmin, 1963, p. 432) THE COMP ARISON BETWEEN CHINESE AND WESTERN CUL TURE 165

I. The Removal ofThree Obstacles

Only by comparing can one distinguish. The Chinese apologists were enlightened literati, whose understanding of Western culture was heavily influenced by the Jesuits. Their study of Western teaching had changed their attitude towards Chinese culture. They bravely removed three obstacles to cultural exchange, which bound the minds of the conservative literati, and advocated introducing Western teachings, wh ich included the sciences and Christianity, in a fusion with Chinese culture. They treated all the component parts of the Western teachings as a whole, then compared them with the central pillars of Chinese ideology, to draw the conclusion of their compatibility from the comparison.

China Js Not the Centre ofthe World

The Chinese have one of the oldest and at the same time one of the longest continuous civilizations in the world. In the long course of her development, over more than four thousand years, China has not only created a most splendid culture but has also made her contribution to world civilization. It is not strange that the concept of a China-centered world has existed a long time in Chinese minds. Generally speaking, the ancient Chinese view of the relationship between China and the rest of the world was based on the traditional idea of "barbarian" (Yi) and "Chinese" (Xia). This last word had two meanings. First, the geographical one: the Chinese nation originated in the Central Plains of the Yellow river, and this region was the cradle of Chinese civilization. "What is called Xia is Chinese." (LIU Yizheng, 1988, pp. 33-5) Here the Chinese phrase "Zhongguoren" meant the people Iiving in the Central Plains, wh ich later got the extended meaning of the middle kingdom of the world. The other nations Iiving around the Xia nation were called "East Yi", "West Ron", "South Man" and "North Di". When the word Yi was used with Xia, it included all nations around the Xia nation. Second, the cultural one: the barbarians were in a primitive state, had no writing, etiquette or elaborate institutions, and their culture was inferior to Chinese culture.2

2 In Mencius' mind, only the nation living in the Middle Kingdom is cultivated, and its culture is superior to any others. He says: "What is called Yi are the nations living in the east: they have their hair in disarray and eat flesh without cooking it. What is called Man are the nations living in the south: they tattoo themselves on the forehead and their toes are linked together, and they eat flesh without cooking it. What is called Ron are the nations living in the