On the 10th day of September in the twelfth year of Shunzhi, in Xuanwu Gate, Weiying Hutong, Nantang.

Tang Ruowang, who was given the title of Tongzheng envoy and the title of "Tongxuan Teacher" with the title of Taichang Siqing of the Great Qing Dynasty and the Qintian Supervisor, was wearing a Jesuit with the tired face of last night, and rarely transformed into a real and pure priest [priest].

"O Lord Almighty, tomorrow is the 10th day of October in the year 1655 of the coming of our Lord, and it is also the day of the slaves to worship God [Sunday, Sunday]. However, in order to preach the gospel to the Qing Empire, the slaves could only devote themselves to handling government affairs day and night, and did not dare to delay government affairs because they were busy with teaching affairs. Slaves are guilty! Today I pray before you for your forgiveness...... Amen! ”

John Tong held the cross in his hand, knelt in front of the icon reverently, and recited the words.

After his "ordination[1] in Rome in 1617, John Tong became a devout Catholic priest. It was also under the strong desire to "serve God all his life" that he was sent by the Holy See to missionary China thousands of miles away as a member of the Catholic Society of Jesus. However, the actual situation in China made all the Jesuit priests before him, as well as himself, very tormented -- if he wanted to convey the doctrine as it was, he would inevitably be kept away by the Chinese scholars and the people, and if he wanted to adapt to the situation, he had to give full play to his scientific and artistic talents and make a difference in the affairs of the imperial court. In this way, you can't have both, and there must always be one aspect that will be subject to various constraints.

The "forerunner" Matteo Ricci's guidance opened up a "broad road" for the late "new type of religious order" Jesuits[2] to "serve the ruling class and seek political asylum in order to spread the doctrine". After years of hard work. Today, the Society of Jesus has more than 30 missionary hospitals in various provinces of China, more than 70 missionaries have come to China, and the number of believers is nearly 200,000 [3]! The Franciscans,[4] who came to China almost at the same time, or even earlier, in the Yuan Dynasty, now have only five classrooms and six churches. Even later, the Dominicans[5] would have been a mere "two and one"! Therefore, the Jesuits and the "fellow" Franciscans and Dominicans finally drifted apart and became distant.

The struggle between the Catholic congregations of "the same denomination and different sects" began shortly after Matteo Ricci entered China. When Matteo Ricci arrived in Beijing in 1601, he once referred to himself as a "Western monk". But he soon discovered that Chinese culture was in the hands of Confucian scholars. He believed in the acceptance of Catholicism by the Chinese. He had to start with the scholar class, so he changed his name to "Western Confucianism", studied Confucian civilization, and wore the clothes of a scholar. Introduce Western jishu such as mnemonics, maps, and astronomy to Chinese. This shows that they are not "Xiyi". However. Ancestor worship in China is close to the description of idolatry by Catholics, and how to deal with ancestor worship has become the key to Catholicism's entry into China. Matteo Ricci decided to point out that ancestor worship is only a secular ritual of honoring ancestors: as long as it is not mixed with superstitious elements such as supplication and worship, it does not essentially violate Catholic teachings; He also advocated the use of "God" as the "God" of the Catholic Church. He also pointed out that the concept of "God" has long existed in ancient Chinese literature. Matteo Ricci's method of preaching was practiced by Jesuit missionaries and was called the "Ricci Rule".

In 1610, Matteo Ricci died, and before his death, he appointed the Italian "Long Huamin" to take over the position in the church, and Long Huamin became the first person to trigger the controversy over the "Chineseization" of Catholicism. He had a different view of Matteo Ricci's ideas and missionary methods, but he did not propose them until after Ricci's death. When he took over as the president of the Jesuit Society in China, he advocated the abolition of the words "heaven", "God", "God", and "soul", and adopted transliteration, and believed that heaven refers to the heavens of the firmament, and "God" does not represent the creator, and advocated that "Lord God" (Deus) should be translated as "steep".

Although the Jesuit priests had different opinions on the views of the two factions, in order to avoid a big dispute, the Jesuits decided to burn more than 50 works against Matteo Ricci and unify the position of the Society, and this dispute became only an internal affair, but in 1628, the missionaries in China also held a meeting in Jiading, Jiangsu, to discuss the issue of respecting ancestors and translating the name of Deus. The participants were very disagreeable, but ultimately agreed that the "Matteo Ricci Rules" should be followed on the issue of worshipping Confucius and worshipping ancestors; For the translation of names, it is advocated to use the transliteration of the Longhuamin faction.

It was not until the Dominican intervened that the controversy over the "Chineseization" of the Catholic liturgy officially escalated. The Dominican missionary work in China began a little later than the Jesuits. When the Jesuit priests enjoyed the prestige of the Chinese court and the scholarly class, in January 1631, the Dominican priest "Gao Qi" arrived from the Philippines in Fu'an, northern Fujian, China, and officially began to preach to China.

On September 12, 1645, the Holy See, with the approval of Pope Innocent X, issued an encyclical prohibiting Catholics from participating in ancestral worship. But in 1651, the Jesuit priest Wei Kuangguo, with the support of John Tong, returned to Europe and went to Rome to plead his case with the pope. And John Tong clearly realized in his many years of political experience that the "Matteo Ricci rule" is the only way for Catholicism to take root and survive in China today!

Since John Tang entered China, he has almost put most of his energy on dealing with the affairs of the Qing Dynasty, although he leads the affairs of this diocese, it is really difficult to have too much energy to take care of it, even the Mass every Sunday, he can simplify and simplify, one is to escape possible court criticism, and the other is indeed limited energy.

Nevertheless, how to preach the doctrine is the ultimate concern of a Jesuit priest, and in this regard, John Tong never slackened for a moment. For example, today, although I could not celebrate Mass on the "main day" with great fanfare, I still slept for only a few hours after the Imperial Council, got up and dressed up, and made a "Sunday Mass" in advance that only I and my servants attended. Why is that?

It turned out that the latest news came from the Holy See a few days ago that the old Pope Innocent X died on January 5 of this year (1655) and went after God. The new pope is Fabio, the great-grandson of former Pope Paul V. Kigi, who was already elected as the successor pope on April 7. Known as "Alexander VII". Although John Tong had never met this person, he came back from Macao one after another, saying that the new pope was very open-minded and had already expressed a lot of meaning about the way of religious belief and the "localization" of Catholicism in various dioceses. Crucially, the new pope also made it clear that there is a special "Apostolic Vicariate[6]" in China to manage the affairs of the Chinese Church!

If this can be done, then John Tong may change the long-standing embarrassment of "having no real name" and become an "apostolic vicar", with the same position as "leading bishop". and no longer an ordinary "priest". It is also possible to get rid of the remote command of the bishop of Macao to a greater or lesser extent, whether it is to serve the Qing court, carry out religious affairs, or suppress those other clergymen who do not obey them, it will be beneficial and harmless! Not only that. Perhaps this protracted debate over the "sinicization" of the Catholic liturgy. It's time to look forward to the day when the dust will settle!

John Soup in prayer. I still can't help but be distracted with righteous indignation.

"Humph! Ann Wensi[7]! After I become a 'vicaria' and a 'shepherd', see how you still disagree with me! Why do I violate the Jesuit oath of "divine poverty" by holding the post of the chief supervisor of the Great Qing Dynasty? You know what! Otherwise, why is the gospel spread east......"

Since the fifth or sixth year of Shunzhi. Some priests, led by Avens, wrote a series of articles criticizing John Tong's appointment as the "chief supervisor of the Qin Heavens" for violating the Jesuit oath of "divine poverty", and saying that the calendar compiled by him contained superstitious content that was not in line with Catholic doctrine. In order to protect the position of Catholicism in the Chinese court, the Jesuits had to go all the way to bring the matter to the Vatican in Rome for resolution. On April 3, 1644, the then Pope Urban VIII made an oral ruling, which was also one of several rulings during his reign [on July 29 of the same year, Pope Urban VIII went to "serve God": in view of the situation at that time, John Tong was specially allowed to serve as a eunuch in the Beijing court after making the "three vows" and the "fourth vows".

The so-called "three vows" or "three vows" are the vows of the gods (no private property, also known as absolute wealth), chastity vows (not married, also known as absolute beauty) and obedient vows (obedience to the elders, also known as absolute will). Jesuit missionaries must also make a "fourth vow," which is to obey the Pope.

This shows how difficult it is for Tong Lao Mafa to convey the teachings, to work errands, and to integrate relationships with other missionaries! Although over the years, the relationship between himself and the clergy such as Avens has gradually stabilized, but the deep estrangement has been lying there quietly, and no one wants to be easily touched, or without a haode opportunity, no one will come out to talk about it!

Now, if the new pope agrees to the establishment of China's "Apostolic Vicariate", as the person with the highest authority in the Qing Dynasty, John Tong will naturally be the most important! Therefore, today's "early prayer" was done in a clear and meticulous manner, even though the other clergy and parishioners were not informed!

"Priest, there are distinguished guests outside the hall......"

Just when John Tong took the opportunity of praying sincerely alone, to sort out the ideas of the great mission in his mind, a voice that was no longer familiar sounded behind him.

"Didn't you say that? Today is not the day of worship, my father, I sit on the altar and cultivate, and no one will see me! ”

Although John Tang, who called himself "old father", adhered to the doctrine of "no anger or anger" and did not scold the comer, there was a lot of displeasure in his tone. Since entering China, John Tong wisely took up the mantle of Matteo Ricci and replaced the names of many rituals in Catholic doctrine with familiar expressions familiar to Chinese, such as changing "prayer" to "sitting on the altar" and "cultivation", changing "mass" to "worship", and so on.

"Father, you have to see this person, and the son can only disturb you to pray to my lord. Forgive Peter, O Lord Almighty. The man who called himself "Peter" also knelt beside John Tong and prayed very reverently and professionally.

Waiting for the so-called "righteous son" beside him to finish his prayer, John Tang got up and asked:

"Who's coming?"

"Father-in-law, the person who came is Prince Heshuo Xiang of the Great Qing Dynasty and his Fujin!" Peter also stood up and replied respectfully.

"Ahh If you don't say it sooner, please come in! The Father then waited at the door! As soon as he heard that the people were Bomu Bogol and his wife, John Tang hurriedly put his "retreat cultivation" in the back of his mind!

"Yes!"

Watching Peter walk out of the chapel respectfully and neatly, John Tong turned around and drew a cross on the icon, and said quietly, "Lord." Your gospel is so fulfilling, do you see a change in Peter? ”

It turned out that Peter was just a Christian name, but this person was an authentic Chinese person, whose birth was Pan Quanxiao, and he was the illegitimate son of a Manchurian banner man and a Han woman in Liaodong. Five years ago, he was in trouble all day long in the streets, and it can be said that he did all kinds of evil. There was even a time when this illegitimate son came to the door many times to harass the missionary work of Nantang, and even injured many parishioners at one point. John Tang was furious. It was sued to the government. After a thorough investigation, a series of bad deeds of this person were discovered, and even murder cases were recorded, plus the nepotistic background of "Tomma's Law". Shuntianfu actually decided that this person would be killed!

This time it surprised John Tang. As a priest. Originally, he just wanted to clean up this ruffian and teach him a lesson. Who would have thought that he would take this man's life because of his lawsuit! The clever John Tang had an idea, and hurriedly wrote to Fulin, saying that this person's nature was not bad. It's just idleness. I hope that the court will let him follow him as a servant, and also enlighten him, so as to "put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha", just to see the wonders of the Gospel of God!

So, naturally, Pan Duxiao escaped death, and really changed his past wrongs, became a devout believer, and tacitly and namelessly became John Tong's "righteous son", serving God and serving his father-in-law every day, just like a different person. Even Emperor Fulin came to this south hall several times, and he was full of praise for God's great efficacy, and he became deeply interested in Pan Qianxiao.

It is this "strong interest" that John Tang always thinks that one day, he will bring something unexpected to the Qing Dynasty......

[1] The Catholic Church calls the process of promotion from seminary, seminarian, and deacon to priest "ordination." Priests, in Catholicism, are also called priests, so ordained priests means: to be promoted to the rank of priest. It echoes another word: "Jin Mu". "Priesthood" refers to the process or ritual of promotion from a priest to a bishop. In Catholicism, the bishop is a parish shepherd, who has a shepherd staff and a commandment, representing his duty to shepherd the flock for God. So, the meaning of ordaining is to be promoted to the pastoral office (bishop)

[2] The Society of Jesus is a relatively late Catholic order. It was founded in 1534 by Loyola at the University of Paris and approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. Instead of following many of the rules of medieval religious life, such as the obligatory practice of penance and fasting, and the wearing of uniform uniforms, the congregation advocated military mobility and flexibility. Its organization is characterized by centralization, years of testing before the vows of zuihou are made, and absolute loyalty to the pope. The Jesuits were mainly engaged in missionary work, education, and formed missionary groups to actively promote the Counter-Reformation, and after the death of Loyola in 1556, their shili had spread throughout Shijie. Their success in their careers and their over-support for the pope made their religious and political enemies even more hostile. In 1773, under pressure from France, Spain and Portugal, Pope Clement XIV had to abolish the congregation, but it was restored in 1814 by Pope Pius VII. Since then, the Society of Jesus has become the largest men's order.

[3] The author Hongyi spent an afternoon and four hours without consulting the original data of the Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans in the 12th year of Shunzhi, and could only make a logical inference based on the relevant data of the 3rd year of Kangxi and the 40th year of Kangxi. In the third year of the Kangxi reign (1664), there were 38 Jesuit hospitals before and after, the number of Jesuits in China reached 82, there were 156 churches in the country, and there were 245,000 Catholics in the country [See Sun Shangyang Zhong Mingdan, "Chinese Christianity Before 1840", Xueyuan Press, 2004, p. 328. In the 40th year of Kangxi's reign, according to Xu Zongze's "Introduction to Chinese Catholic Missionaries", there were 70 Jesuit priests hospitalized and 214 churches in China. The relevant numbers for the Franciscans and Dominicans are 22 and 24, 8 and 6, respectively. It can be seen that there is a huge gap, and it also shows how important it is to have a good relationship with high-level politicians in China. It is difficult to achieve much by blindly following the bottom line like the Franciscans and the Dominicans! Look at it from the past!! 【Woo ......】

[4] The Franciscans are one of the Catholic dervishes, translated as Franciscan, the Latin name Ordo FratrumMinorum, which means Little Brotherhood in Latin, and is also known as the Grey Friars because its members wear gray uniforms. In 1209, Francisco Javier (1182-1226), a wealthy son of the Italian city of Assisi, was approved by Pope Innocent III to establish the Society, and in 1223 Pope Honorius III approved its statutes. The Franciscans advocated a life of poverty, clothed and beggars, and the congregations called each other 'little brothers'. They owe allegiance to the Pope and oppose heresy. After the middle of the Qing Dynasty, there were many dioceses under the jurisdiction of China, mainly in Shandong, Jin, Lianghu, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places. The main direction of the mission is Africa. There is no shortage of members in the Latin American Church and among liberation theologians. [The "Austenians", together with the "Carmelites", "Franciscans" and "Dominicans", are collectively known as the four major dervishes of the Catholic Church, which was founded in the 13th century, nearly 200 years earlier than the "new order" Jesuits! 】

[5] The Dominicans (Latin OrdoDominicanorum, also translated as Dominicans), also known as the "Brotherhood of Evangelism." The congregations wore black cloaks, hence the name "friars" to distinguish them from the Franciscan "friars" and the Carmelite "friars". One of the main denominations of the Catholic Dervishes. On January 2 or 3, 1631, Father Ange Cocchi, a Dominican priest of Spanish background, arrived in Fu'an, northern Fujian, China, from the Spanish colony of the Philippines and began his missionary work in China.

[6] The Pontifical Vicariate (Vicaria) is an ecclesiastical body of the Catholic Church, established in missionary areas that are not yet sufficient to qualify for dioceses. It is temporary in nature, although it is likely to last a century or more. Its main purpose was to train a sufficient number of Catholics to be able to form a full-fledged diocese.

[7] Gabriel de Magalhāes (1609 – 6 May 1677), Portuguese Jesuit missionary, born Gabriel? Morality? Magellan, for Ferdinand? Descendants of Magellan. In 1640, he went to China as a missionary, and for a long time he cooperated with Richard, first establishing a church in Chengdu and later serving Zhang Xianzhong. After Zhang Xianzhong was defeated, he was captured by Hao Ge and sent to Beijing. After Hauge's death, Richards and Anwens were released and founded the Beijing East Hall. In 1677, Anvens died of illness in Beijing and was buried in the Tenggong Fence Cemetery. During his time in China, An Wensi was known for his ability to manufacture machinery, and successively made many instruments for Zhang Xianzhong and the Qing government, and the Kangxi Emperor praised him for "building the utensils with the intention of Fu, and then managing the things made with great effort." In 1668, he wrote an essay in Portuguese entitled "The Twelve Characteristics of China", which was later published in Paris under the title "New Chronicles of China". (To be continued......)