Confucius, Philosopher of the Chinese

...or brought up from a deep level, or expanded upon, they may be able to be sustained. Before we proceed to these matters, it will not be unpleasant for the Reader to learn the occasion and the reasons for undertaking this work.

From the first time the Society of Jesus The Jesuits, the Catholic religious order to which the author belongs. opened a path for itself into the Empire of the Chinese (it has been a hundred years and more), we attempted to proclaim the Gospel among the Chinese in the very same way that the Heralds of the Gospel Missionaries. had used among all other nations: namely, as religious men, following religious customs, dress, and rituals. However, the actual experience and the outcome of our affairs—which by no means answered our prayers—soon taught us that a completely different path had to be taken if we wished to achieve anything worthwhile. This was because among this nation, not only does all religion lie in neglect, but furthermore, those who publicly profess a certain stricter and holier way of life (not unlike our own monks) are held in very little honor. We commonly call these men Bonzes original: "Bonzios"; a term used by early travelers and missionaries to describe Buddhist monks in East Asia.. They are generally from the lowest dregs of the people and are distinguished neither by any learning nor even by those shadows of virtue in which the heathens boast.

Therefore, there were very grave men among the Chinese, whom we had already bound to us through private friendship and who had inspected our affairs and goals more closely and deeply. These men strongly urged us that, since we were so highly cultivated in letters and the sciences (as they had already discovered for themselves), we should join ourselves to their own order of the Literati The "Literati" or scholar-officials were the elite ruling class of Imperial China, educated in Confucian classics.. They suggested that we could sufficiently—and more than sufficiently—protect and profess the sanctity of a stricter life (which the priests of their own nation only feigned) through the actual holiness of our conduct, without the external harshness of that local religious dress. In this way, they said, there would finally be hope of making progress and of persuading even the Provincial Governors and the leading men of those things we most desired. Furthermore, we would no longer be liable to those harassments and insults with which the insolence of wicked men is accustomed to pursue foreigners—despising them specifically because they bore the appearance of the Bonzes. Indeed, the first companions of our Society had already endured many such insults, and yet without any benefit to the Christian cause.

It was not at all difficult to persuade us of what reason and experience had long since suggested—especially to those for whom no other goal was set than to win all for Christ, and for the sake of this goal, to become not only "literati to the literate Chinese nation," but to become "all things to all men." A reference to 1 Corinthians 9:22, a guiding principle for Jesuit "accommodation" or cultural adaptation. Therefore, from 그that time onward, we assumed the persona and the dress of the Literati. Scarcely had we assumed it (which may seem incredible to many) when both the highest and the lowest began to respect us—the latter in awe and the former in reverence—as if we were "new men." Even the Magistrates original: "Magistratus"; high-ranking government officials or Mandarins. themselves began to visit us more frequently with splendid entourages. But indeed, it was difficult to maintain the name and reputation of the Literati for long by external dress alone and the testimony of a few who dealt with us familiarly, especially...