A Call to Mission - A History of the Jesuits in China 1842-1954: Volume 1: The French Romance - Softcover

David Strong

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1925643565 ISBN 13: 9781925643565

Publisher: ATF Press, 2018

Synopsis

China was bulked large in the imagination of the Catholic Church for 500 years. It had been central to the missionary dream of the Jesuits for almost as long. However, only with this book’s appearance has the detailed focus of attention shifted to the substantial and neglected period of catholic and Jesuit engagement with china - the almost 120 years from the second arrival of the Jesuits.

Matteo Ricci the polymath, Ferdinand Verbeist and Adam Schall von Bell the astronomers and the exquisite painter who in uenced Chinese painting beyond measure, Giuseppe Castiglione, have been written about, made ls of and been the heart and soul of the rst stage of Jesuit impact on China - in the 17th and 18th Centuries. They brought Western learning and art to China and took Chinese language and literature to Europe.

The Jesuits were the rst multinational to be welcomed in China and they came with a speci c method of engagement - to make friends build relationships and share their gifts before anything else was transacted, including conversations about Christianity. It remains an unsurpassed method of engagement with a rich and ancient people.

But the second arrival - from the 1840’s - was very different. It was made possible by the arrival of European governments and traders, many of whom came not just for nancial gain but to spread their “superior” religion.

This work by David Strong in two volumes is the rst major treatment of the period from the arrival of the European and eventually American Jesuit missionaries under the protection of the so called Unequal Treaties through to their expulsion after the Communist victory in the long running civil war in 1949.

Volume 1: The French Romance - traces the people, projects, expansion and impact of those who provided the predominant Jesuit presence. At the height of it’s engagement with China, the French Government has 19 Consulates and attendant military and navy throughout China. The French Jesuits were afforded access and protection by their government and activated missions in northern and central China - schools, seminaries, universities, parishes, retreat houses, publications - and attracted Chinese nationals to join their number.

About this title

About the Author

Over 15 years, Father David Strong SJ has quarried the archives of the Jesuits in Europe, Asia and the North America to provide a story as intimate as it is comprehensive. A mammoth undertaking to report and assess the works, successes and failures of over a thousand foreigner and hundreds of Chinese Jesuits. Through the narrative, we feel what daily life in cities and villages is like, we have a window on the grand shaping events that tumultuous century and more of Chinese history and we marvel at the sacri ces and idealism of generations caught by the dream and reality of evolving China.

Edition details

• Publisher: ATF Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1925643565
• ISBN 13: 9781925643565
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 501