Bowing to a New Emperor: Three Different Missionary Perspectives on the Qing Dynasty

Abstract

This contribution further questions the assumption of a consistently colonial gaze by European travellers to Asia, by carefully connecting Catholic imaginations of Asia as a geopolitical space with reflections on the necessity of European audience to understand Chinese political rule and legitimacy. Hence, it is necessary to propose a more nuanced framework to investigate the impact of the Qing conquest of China on Catholic evaluations of the political situation in East Asia. In the sixteenth and seventeenth century, China is described as a highly developed country, and the question is how to adjust such a vision within the new political reality. A variety of answers are given by Catholic missionaries, depending on their personal experiences, political theories and theological stances. In particular, the essay presents three perspectives towards the new Qing dynasty, presenting texts by Adam Schall, Martino Martini and Domingo Fernanéz de Navarette.

Missionary Writings during the Canton Exile (1666–1671): Crisis in the Manchu-Christian Relationship

“…Unlike the Canton Jesuits, Navarrete did not criticize the Manchus as barbaric, though he thought that the Han Chinese had a superior civilization, but he criticized them for in his view being tyrannical and imposing on the Chinese a foreign rule. He saw the Manchu emperors as illegitimate usurpers (see Lack and Van Kley 1993, see also Schindler 2022). Against the Jesuits who considered the Chinese Rites as political or civic, and therefore compatible with Christianity, Navarrete like Caballero held that the Chinese Rites were idolatrous.…”