Confolicism: What Could Have Been?
There is a make believe word that should catch your eye. It is a combination of the words, Confucianism and Catholicism. Although, this word may look and sound a bit funny, this phenomenon came rather close to occurring some 400 years ago. The impact on the history of China, as well as, the rest of the world could have been drastically different had this combination of moral philosophy and religion been permitted to fully develop in China. It is my opinion that the moral philosophy of Confucianism and the Catholic religion could have complemented each other quite well. Especially, Confucianism revealed through the philosophy and teachings of Confucius himself or Mencius and not Neo-Confucianism, which comes much later in history. I will prove this through the examination of the Jesuits, and their initial influence of Catholicism in China. I will examine the controversies that the Jesuits inadvertently created between the Chinese and Catholics. We will explore some sim!ilarities and differences between the two, as well as, attempt to determine why this movement failed in China. From the time Confucius introduced Confucianism in China to the time the Jesuits arrived, Confucianism had u
ssibility that Catholicism could fill the voids of traditional Confucianism without compromising either one. As mentioned earlier, traditional Confucianism did not develop or have any connections to a single Supreme Being. Had Confucius done this there would be problems with combining the two, however, Confucius was devoted to the betterment of the individual. He wanted to improve society by improving the goodness of the individual and Confucius's desires for the individual were actually quite similar to that of Christianity. Can you identify the men who are speaking in the following quotes? The first quote is, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." The second quote is, "Once when Fan Ch'ih asked the meaning of Virtue the Master replied, 'Love your fellow men" (Frank Rawlinson, Naturalization of Christianity in China, p. II). The first quote was spoken by Jesus Christ, and the second quote ! To many people, just as the Pope did, think these types of rituals and sacrifices sound closely related to those of Religious practices. This I cannot deny, however, I want to examine why the Neo-Confucianists tried to fill the voids left by Confucian. The simple reason is because they needed more explanation. They needed answers to some questions that Confucius did not answer. Such as: What happens to one when they die? How should we take care of them? Why do we die or get sick? What happens to people who do not have offspring to bury them when they die? These are very similar questions that Catholicism answers, so it is only natural that some of the Neo-Confucian rituals appear to be religious. In the statement from K'ang-hsi to the Pope, K'ang-hsi says, "Confucius was honored as a teacher, not a god, that sacrificial offerings to the dead were intended as memorial services rather than worship, that ancestral tablets represented a focus for filial attention and dev! The problems between Confucianism and Catholicism developed as other Catholic groups began making their way into China. These groups began to see how the Jesuits were trying to fuse Confucianism and Christianity, and that the Jesuits were becoming Chinafied. They were outraged because they felt like the Jesuits were compromising the Catholic faith. They began to write letters to the Pope to tell him their observations of the Jesuits and how they were compromising the Catholic Church. The Pope was not happy with the news that he was receiving from China. However, it is important to note that the Jesuits were by no means taking China by storm, but their progress was very gradual. With the inflow of these other Catholic groups, such as the Dominicans and Franciscans, the Chinese people began to become skeptical of the Jesuits. The Chinese began to view Christianity as a superstitious religion. As these events unfolded, a period known as the Rites Controversy developed. ! Jurji, Edward J. The Great Religions of the Modern World. Princeton: Princeton Confucius. The Analects of Confucius. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. spirits in the world of darkness, and are forced to eke out a wretched existence, and are entirely dependent on public charity. (6) That of the ills that flesh is heir to, such as sickness, business disaster, calamity and death, are inflicted by these unfortunate "orphan" spirits, who in attempting to avenge themselves, prey upon those in the world of light who are responsible in any way for their forlorn condition (James Livingstone Stewart, Chinese Culture and Christianity, pp. 85-86). Ching, Julia. Confucianism and Christianity. Tokyo, New York
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2465
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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