| Tianzhu | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Catholic church in Tai'an, with sign reading 天主堂 (tiānzhǔ táng, "Hall of the Lord of Heaven") | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 天主 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Heaven Master | ||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
Tianzhu (Chinese :天主; Wade–Giles :Tʻien-chu),meaning "Heavenly Master" or "Lord of Heaven",is the Chinese word used for God in Catholicism,designated by the Jesuit China missions. [1]
The word first appeared in Michele Ruggieri's Chinese translation of the Decalogo ,or Ten Commandments. [1] In 1584,Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci published their first catechism,Tiānzhǔshílù (天主實錄,The Veritable Record of the Lord of Heaven). [2]
Matteo Ricci later wrote a catechism entitled TiānzhŭShíyì (天主實義,The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven). [1] [2]
Following the Chinese rites controversy,the term Tiānzhŭ was officially adopted by the Pope in 1715,who rejected alternative terms such as Tiān (天,"Heaven") and Shàngdì (上帝,"Supreme Emperor"). [3]
"Catholicism" is most commonly rendered as Tiānzhǔjiào (天主教,"Religion of the Lord of Heaven"). An individual Catholic is Tiānzhŭjiào tú ; [4] tú includes the meanings "disciple" and "believer." [5] The same hanja characters are used in the Korean words for Catholicism and Catholic believer.
Shangdi (Chinese:上帝;pinyin:Shàngdì;Wade–Giles:Shang4 Ti4),also called simply Di (Chinese:帝;pinyin:Dì;lit. 'God'),is the name of the Chinese Highest Deity or "Lord Above" in the theology of the classical texts,especially deriving from Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the later Tiān ("Heaven" or "Great Whole") of Zhou theology.
The Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute among Catholic missionaries over the religiosity of Confucianism and Chinese rituals during the 17th and 18th centuries. The debate discussed whether Chinese ritual practices of ancestor veneration and other formal rites qualified as religious,and thus incompatible with Catholic belief. The Jesuits argued that these Chinese rites were secular rituals that were compatible with Christianity,within certain limits,and should thus be tolerated. The Dominicans and Franciscans disagreed and reported the issue to Rome.
Alessandro Valignano,S.J.,sometimes Valignani,was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary born in Chieti,part of the Kingdom of Naples,who helped supervise the introduction of Catholicism to the Far East,and especially to Japan.
Haneunim or Hanunim is the sky god in Korean mythology. In the more Buddhist-aligned parts of these religions,he is identified with Indra. In the more Taoist-aligned parts of these religions,he is identified with Okhwang Sangje. Under that name,he is a deity in the Poncheongyo religion.
Christianity has been present in China since the early medieval period,and became a significant presence in the country during the early modern era. The Church of the East appeared in China in the 7th century,during the Tang dynasty. Catholicism was one of the religions patronized by the emperors of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty,but it did not take root in China until its reintroduction by the Jesuits during the 16th century. Beginning in the early 19th century,Protestant missions in China attracted small but influential followings,and independent Chinese churches were also established.
The Catholic Church first appeared in China upon the arrival of John of Montecorvino in China proper during the Yuan dynasty;he was the first Catholic missionary in the country,and would become the first bishop of Khanbaliq (1271–1368).
In the Chinese common religion and philosophical schools the idea of the universal God has been expressed in a variety of names and representations,most notably as 天and 上帝.
Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon,also known as Carlo Tommaso,was a papal legate and cardinal to the East Indies and China.
Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He created the Kunyu Wanguo Quantu,a 1602 map of the world written in Chinese characters. In 2022,the Apostolic See declared its recognition of Ricci's heroic virtues,thereby bestowing upon him the honorific of Venerable.
MicheleRuggieri,SJ was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary. A founding father of the Jesuit China missions,co-author of the first European–Chinese dictionary,and first European translator of the Four Books of Confucianism,he has been described as the first European sinologist.
Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare,and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually,parishes and dioceses would be organized worldwide,often after an intermediate phase as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic vicariate. Catholic mission has predominantly been carried out by the Latin Church in practice.
Shen is a Chinese word with senses of deity,god or spirit. The Japanese equivalent is shin,as in Shinto. This single Chinese term expresses a range of similar,yet differing,meanings.
Michele Ferrero is a Catholic priest,born in Cuneo,Italy,Salesian of Don Bosco,Professor of Moral Theology and Classics,graduated from Taipei Fu Jen Catholic University. Faculty of Theology. He is author of books and articles about Taiwan,China and moral theology. He holds a doctoral degree in theology and a degree in Classics from the State University of Torino (Italy). He has served in Taiwan,Hong Kong,Shanghai,Turin,Italy and Jerusalem. He is the author of "The cultivation of virtue in Matteo Ricci's 'The true meaning of the Lord of Heaven'"(Fu Jen Catholic University Press,Taipei,2004),an important study on moral issues common to the Christian and the Confucian traditions. He is currently teaching Latin and Western Classics at Beijing Foreign Studies University. He works as Foreign Expert in Latin at the International Institute of Chinese Studies of Beijing Foreign Studies University.
The Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism refer to three Chinese converts to Christianity,during the 16th and 17th century Jesuit China missions:
St. Paul's College of Macau,also known as College of Madre de Deus,was a university founded in 1594 in Macau by Jesuits at the service of the Portuguese under the Padroado treaty. It claimed the title of the first Western university in East Asia.
The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus,or Jesuits,between the 16th and 17th century played a significant role in continuing the transmission of knowledge,science,and culture between China and the West,and influenced Christian culture in Chinese society today.
Chinese theology,which comes in different interpretations according to the Chinese classics and Chinese folk religion,and specifically Confucian,Taoist,and other philosophical formulations,is fundamentally monistic,that is to say it sees the world and the gods of its phenomena as an organic whole,or cosmos,which continuously emerges from a simple principle. This is expressed by the concept that "all things have one and the same principle". This principle is commonly referred to as Tiān 天,a concept generally translated as "Heaven",referring to the northern culmen and starry vault of the skies and its natural laws which regulate earthly phenomena and generate beings as their progenitors. Ancestors are therefore regarded as the equivalent of Heaven within human society,and therefore as the means connecting back to Heaven which is the "utmost ancestral father". Chinese theology may be also called Tiānxué 天學,a term already in use in the 17th and 18th centuries.
François Noël,SJ was a Flemish Jesuit,poet,dramatist,and missionary to the Qing Empire. Nöel unsuccessfully testified in support of Chinese converts to Catholicism retaining ancestral veneration during the Chinese Rites controversy but also opposed incorporating other elements of Confucianism into Catholic practice. He also achieved notability for translating several Chinese texts for European audiences.
Anthony Eugene Clark is an American Sinologist,historian,and writer who has authored dozens of books,articles,and other publications in the fields of Sino-Western,Sino-Missionary,and ancient Chinese history. He is the Edward B. Lindaman Endowed Chair and a professor of Chinese history at Whitworth University. He previously taught courses on Chinese history,culture,and literature at the University of Oregon and The University of Alabama. His most widely read books are China's Saints:Catholic Martyrdom during the Qing,Heaven in Conflict:Franciscans and the Boxer Uprising in Shanxi,and China Gothic:The Bishop of Beijing and His Cathedral,which includes a foreword by the architectural historian,Leland M. Roth. Clark's major interest is late-imperial China,especially the final decades of the Qing dynasty,and the intellectual and religious relations between China and the West. Clark resides with his wife,Amanda,in Spokane,Washington.
Religious Confucianism is an interpretation of Confucianism as a religion. It originated in the time of Confucius with his defense of traditional religious institutions of his time such as the Jongmyo rites,and the ritual and music system.