The famous Jesuit missionary, Matteo Ricci (1552-1610) was known in China as Li Matou. He targeted the most influential groups in Chinese society, especially the emperor and the elite official class. He introduced them to Western mathematics, science and cartography. In return he learned how to read and write Chinese and went on to translate the Four Books of Confucianism into Latin. He then embarked on serious study of the classics of Confucianism. Ricci became so expert that he was able to converse with the most eminent Confucian scholars. Some even converted to the Catholic faith.
Ricci sought to accommodate Confucian rites. But many Jesuit fathers disagreed and the anti-Confucian rites of Catholicism led to occasional outbreaks of persecution, leading to the expulsion of the Jesuit fathers and later of all missionaries, following an imperial decree.
This reaction underscored how rudimentary Confucianism is to Chinese culture. Aside from the problem of what name to use for God the Rites Controversy concerned the problem of how Christians should view traditional practices involving the veneration of ancestors. Those who took Ricci’s viewpoint saw this practice not as worship, not as treating the ancestors as gods, but as a means of honouring and remembering ancestors. However, some Jesuits and the majority of Dominicans and Franciscans saw these practices as blatantly idolatrous and warned against condoning paganism. When the Dominican Friar Morales persuaded Pope Innocent X that these rites were superstitious the Pope condemned ancestor veneration in 1643.
For the Chinese emperor matters became confusing because of the split among Catholics over this issue. On the one hand, he had Jesuits reassuring him that Chinese Christians could continue to engage in ancestor veneration. On the other hand, the opponents of the Jesuits argued they couldn’t. In 1692, wooed by the Jesuits, Emperor Kang-hsi issued an Edict of Toleration not only permitting the practice of Christianity but also declaring that Confucian rites were not religious.
However, the issue was reheated when in 1701 a papal legate concluded the rites were indeed idolatrous and in 1704 the decree of Pope Clement XI and the Congregation of Rites prohibited ancestor veneration rites. Later the Pope pronounced excommunication on any Catholic missionaries who chose to disobey this ruling. The Chinese emperor Kang-hsi immediately responded in kind, issuing a decree that outlawed Christianity, expelled all missionaries and called for the destruction of churches with the aim of extirpating Christianity from China.
Among other things Clement stated:
The spring and autumn worship of Confucius, together with the worship of ancestors, is not allowed among Catholic converts. It is not allowed even though the converts appear in the ritual as bystanders, because to be a bystander in this ritual is as pagan as to participate in it actively.
No Chinese Catholics are allowed to worship ancestors in their familial temples.
Whether at home, in the cemetery, or during the time of a funeral, a Chinese Catholic is not allowed to perform the ritual of ancestor worship. He is not allowed to do so even if he is in company with non-Christians. Such a ritual is heathen in nature regardless of the circumstances.
Kang-hsi’s decree stated:
Reading this proclamation, I have concluded that the Westerners are petty indeed. It is impossible to reason with them because they do not understand larger issues as we understand them in China. There is not a single Westerner versed in Chinese works, and their remarks are often incredible and ridiculous. To judge from this proclamation, their religion is no different from other small, bigoted sects of Buddhism or Taoism. I have never seen a document which contains so much nonsense. From now on, Westerners should not be allowed to preach in China, to avoid further trouble.
Later Pope Benedict XIV issued a bull that softened the Catholic stance. Now the use of ancestral tablets was permissible, provided all superstitious words were corrected and ambiguous words explained. Chinese Christians were also permitted to make ritual offerings of food and to kow tow. However, Benedict had second thoughts on these matters and in 1742 issued yet another bull rescinding these permissions.
In 1939 Pope Pius XII relaxed these decrees, establishing a new Catholic position which no longer regarded these rites as superstitious, but rather as an honourable way of showing profound respect for one’s ancestors.
The effect of all the Rites Controversy was to make Christianity appear as an anti-Chinese religion because of its anti-Confucianist position. The Rites Controversy continues to be a major issue with the majority of Protestants, at odds with Catholics, in their view that the rites are in fact idolatrous. It is difficult for many Chinese Christians to be simultaneously faithful Christians and Confucianists.
Reference: K.K. (Khiok-Khng) Yeo, “Paul’s Theological Ethic and the Chinese Morality of Ren Ren” in Cross-Cultural Paul (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2005) 110-113.
Posted June 26, 2008
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