The way that the West has looked upon China has been volatile through the centuries. Not too many years ago, the Chinese were looked down on because of their failure to progress. There were many times when the West exalted China, when China seemed to be the center of the world and the best society. China itself always thought that it was the center of the world. China had a sense of pride and exalted themselves above their peers. They had a very strong stench of nationalism amongst themselves. Christianity eventually entered the Middle Kingdom and the Chinese encountered a new path that they could select. However, from 1500 to 1800 as Westerners attempted to convert the Chinese, the missionaries realized that Chinese culture and nationalism were still in the driver’s seat.
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This paper will show that Chinese nationalism could not be broken down by Christianity and that Chinese culture is not easily affected by the outside world, yet has its reputation spread across the globe. During the late sixteenth century, Portugal began to travel to China in search of trade. Unlike the Dutch Protestants, the Catholics looked to bring religion to China. The first to do so was the Jesuit order, led by Matteo Ricci. The Chinese welcomed the Jesuits who were highly educated and were invited to share their knowledge about astronomy, firearms, and mathematics. However, the Jesuits did not make many religious conversions among the general population. The very nationalistic Chinese would not accept anything that did not fit with their current views. The lower class citizens held more ties to Buddhism and Daoism than the upper class. These were religions that focused more on spirituality, not leaving much of an open door for Christianity. It seemed as though China would never be able to convert people to Christianity because it would mean that they would have to reject some of what it meant to be Chinese. However, the Jesuits stole from the playbook of Paul in Athens and they attempted to find harmony between the Chinese current views and Christianity. Targeting the upper class which held closer ties to Confucianism, they taught that Christianity and Confucianism had the same moral code, but that Christianity focused more on the afterlife. The Jesuits were able to make some significant converts among eminent Confucians. However, this tolerance of the teachings of Confucius came at a cost. Christianity had cheapened. The new Chinese Christians had a hard time accepting parts of Christianity such as the virgin birth, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. The most integral parts of Christianity were left out. However, one cannot fault the Jesuits. The Chinese were hard pressed to abandon their beliefs, if the Jesuits had pushed this narrative, they would have been rejected completely. Although much of Christianity blended in with the popular Chinese religions, the Franciscans promoted opposition and wanted to be distinct from the rest of the Chinese. This did not please the Chinese nationalists. The Franciscans shifted their focus to the lower social groups. Anti-Christian feelings began to spread among the Chinese. They most likely began to feel threatened. This threat increased as the Christian sects began to create secret societies. …show more content…
Europeans with a special interest in China were popularizers. They did not care about how Christianity and the teachings of Confucius could come together. Nor did these popularizers spend much time on missionary strategy or intellectual approaches that the Jesuits worked to discover. Rather, they focused on finding Chinese support for the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment did not improve the West’s understanding of China, but actually hurt as Chinese views were exploited and created a superficial image of China. Many people admitted to fictionalizing Chinese history. There were books written about Chinese culture by people who had never been to China, although they claimed to be. They used these writings to push the Enlightenment by claiming that respected Chinese such as Confucius said things that they would have never stated. It should not surprise anyone that as opportunities to push a narrative came about, lies were spread and words were perverted. The West used the reputation of China to push their own
This paper will show that Chinese nationalism could not be broken down by Christianity and that Chinese culture is not easily affected by the outside world, yet has its reputation spread across the globe. During the late sixteenth century, Portugal began to travel to China in search of trade. Unlike the Dutch Protestants, the Catholics looked to bring religion to China. The first to do so was the Jesuit order, led by Matteo Ricci. The Chinese welcomed the Jesuits who were highly educated and were invited to share their knowledge about astronomy, firearms, and mathematics. However, the Jesuits did not make many religious conversions among the general population. The very nationalistic Chinese would not accept anything that did not fit with their current views. The lower class citizens held more ties to Buddhism and Daoism than the upper class. These were religions that focused more on spirituality, not leaving much of an open door for Christianity. It seemed as though China would never be able to convert people to Christianity because it would mean that they would have to reject some of what it meant to be Chinese. However, the Jesuits stole from the playbook of Paul in Athens and they attempted to find harmony between the Chinese current views and Christianity. Targeting the upper class which held closer ties to Confucianism, they taught that Christianity and Confucianism had the same moral code, but that Christianity focused more on the afterlife. The Jesuits were able to make some significant converts among eminent Confucians. However, this tolerance of the teachings of Confucius came at a cost. Christianity had cheapened. The new Chinese Christians had a hard time accepting parts of Christianity such as the virgin birth, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. The most integral parts of Christianity were left out. However, one cannot fault the Jesuits. The Chinese were hard pressed to abandon their beliefs, if the Jesuits had pushed this narrative, they would have been rejected completely. Although much of Christianity blended in with the popular Chinese religions, the Franciscans promoted opposition and wanted to be distinct from the rest of the Chinese. This did not please the Chinese nationalists. The Franciscans shifted their focus to the lower social groups. Anti-Christian feelings began to spread among the Chinese. They most likely began to feel threatened. This threat increased as the Christian sects began to create secret societies. …show more content…
Europeans with a special interest in China were popularizers. They did not care about how Christianity and the teachings of Confucius could come together. Nor did these popularizers spend much time on missionary strategy or intellectual approaches that the Jesuits worked to discover. Rather, they focused on finding Chinese support for the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment did not improve the West’s understanding of China, but actually hurt as Chinese views were exploited and created a superficial image of China. Many people admitted to fictionalizing Chinese history. There were books written about Chinese culture by people who had never been to China, although they claimed to be. They used these writings to push the Enlightenment by claiming that respected Chinese such as Confucius said things that they would have never stated. It should not surprise anyone that as opportunities to push a narrative came about, lies were spread and words were perverted. The West used the reputation of China to push their own