The struggle between the Qing court and the Holy See was not only a struggle for power, but in essence the embodiment of the first large-scale confrontation between Eastern and Western civilizations. Chinese civilization, as a cultural icon of the ancient Eastern Empire, has always enjoyed a unique position. Despite their temporary inferiority to the West in the fields of science and technology and military affairs, the Chinese emperors never considered their civilization inferior to others.
Put yourself in their shoes, the heirs of an ancient empire, how would they feel in the face of unprecedented challenges? It is their duty to defend the dignity and glory of the motherland. While their reactions may seem too drastic and their tactics may be too tough, we still need to put ourselves in their shoes. The three generations of Kang Qianyong were not in an easy situation when the power of the West was gradually moving eastward.
Their choice is not entirely based on personal wishes, and the tide of the times is already turbulent. Tracing back to the source of history and rationally analyzing the origin of the entire historical event is the attitude we should have.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, with the opening of the port of Macao, Catholicism entered China for the first time through Portuguese missionaries. Among these missionaries, Matteo Ricci's contribution was particularly remarkable. He adopted a flexible missionary strategy, which greatly promoted the spread of Catholicism in China.
Born into a Catholic family, Matteo Ricci was passionate about missionary work from an early age. In 1552 he was sent as a missionary to the Far East. After a long sea voyage, he finally came to China and began his long and arduous missionary career.
Initially, Matteo Ricci adopted the so-called "immortal arts" that were popular during the Ming Wuzong period to attract dignitaries. He showed great knowledge and talent, and soon won the admiration of many ** at the time. With these interpersonal resources, Matteo Ricci gradually came into contact with higher-level magnates, and even won the deep impression of the two emperors at that time.
However, Matteo Ricci quickly realized that it was not enough to rely on the connections of the elite to achieve large-scale missionary work in China. China has always pursued the concept of "royal paradise". In order to truly integrate the religion into Chinese culture, it is necessary for the broad masses of ordinary people to accept this belief.
For this reason, Matteo Ricci made a very enlightened choice at the time. He allowed China to convert to Catholicism while still maintaining respect for his ancestors and Confucius. Although this contradicts the traditional beliefs of the Catholic Church, it fits perfectly with China's national cultural traditions.
This ingenious strategy paid off quickly. Thanks to Matteo Ricci's unremitting missionary efforts, the number of Catholics in Nanjing, Hangzhou and other places has increased exponentially. Even the future Nanming royal family had many people converted. From the Wanli period to the Apocalypse, Matteo Ricci made great achievements and made unprecedented development of Catholicism in China.
In the turbulent and chaotic era of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Emperor Shunzhi, who ascended the throne at the beginning of Hong Yechu, showed a strong interest in Western learning. He highly appreciated missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and became an important supporter of cultural exchanges between China and the West. His son, Emperor Kangxi, regarded Matteo Ricci as a role model and continued to support the spread of Catholicism in China.
The Kangxi period witnessed the unprecedented prosperity of Catholicism in China, with an endless stream of missionaries from all over the world, and churches sprung up all over China. The influence of the Holy See also grew, and its ties with the Qing court became increasingly close.
However, with the overexpansion of the church's power, various problems gradually surfaced. Missionary groups began to emerge in China, and the three major factions, represented by the Jesuits, Dominicans, and Francoisians, engaged in open and covert struggles for the dominance of Chinese missions, and constantly accused each other.
At the heart of these contradictions lies in attitudes towards Chinese cultural traditions. The enlightened and inclusive missionary approach of Matteo Ricci and others was strongly opposed by the Dominicans. The Dominicans even denounced to the Holy See, accusing the Chinese of continuing to worship Confucius and their ancestors, believing it to be a blasphemy against God, and stressing the need to completely ban these practices, which were considered "pagan", in order to purify the faith.
However, Emperor Kangxi had a different view on this. In 1700, he issued an edict making it clear that the worship of Confucius was not a religious activity, but a cultural tradition that had been passed down from China for thousands of years and should not be changed lightly.
Despite this, the Holy See maintained its position. In 1704, Pope Clement XI officially issued a ban on Christianity, calling for the complete abolition of all "pagan" activities in China. Emperor Kangxi was extremely angry about this and ordered the expulsion of the papal envoys as a sign of **. As a result, a dispute over cultural roots gradually turned into a confrontation between theocracy and royal power, laying the groundwork for the future policy of banning religion.
Kangxi's later years led to a fierce battle for the "nine sons to seize the throne", and all the princes were eager to seize the throne. After Kangxi's death, the fourth son Yinzhen ascended the throne and became Emperor Yongzheng. Sensing the threat of seizing the throne, he decided to eliminate his political enemies and consolidate the throne.
Western missionaries were inextricably linked to Qing politics. Yunzhi, the ninth son of the emperor, had been healed by the missionary Lu Yidao when he was young, so he had great trust in Westerners. Yun Zhi was seen as the most likely candidate to succeed to the throne and was often surrounded by many Portuguese missionaries.
Among them, Mu Jingyuan's status is particularly prominent. As Yunzhi's teacher and advisor, they have a close relationship. Mu Jingyuan even privately predicted to the Portuguese royal family that Yunzhi would ascend the throne in the future. Yongzheng sees Mu Jingyuan's ties to Yunzhi as a potential political threat.
On the other hand, the eighth son, Yunren, also had close ties with the missionaries. His supporter, Prince Sunu, was a Catholic and had close ties with many clerics. Yongzheng stripped Sunu of his hereditary power on the charge of forming a party for personal gain, and Sunu was exiled to Xinjiang. However, Sunu's younger brother, Le Xiheng, still maintains contact with Yunzhi in Xinjiang and builds churches with his followers.
This is obviously a confrontation with him under Yongzheng's watchful eye. Yongzheng was furious and ordered the arrest of Le Xiheng and his imprisonment, and the Portuguese missionary Mu Jingyuan was also involved. For a time, the missionaries fell victim to the political struggle.
Yongzheng was vicious and decisive in dealing with his political opponents, and soon canceled Yunren and Yunzhi's royal status, and expelled Mu Jingyuan after torture. He made it clear that the affairs of the country could not be interfered with by external forces, in order to prevent the possibility of the Portuguese royal family intervening in the Chinese government. This move completely ruined the relationship between the missionary and the emperor.
The whole anti-religious movement was not so harsh at the beginning. As early as the first year of Yongzheng, he approved the request of the governor of Fujian and banned the local ** church house. This suggests that the elimination of political opponents is only one of the motivations for the anti-religious movement. The deeper reason lies in cultural identity. Yongzheng believes that Western doctrine is arrogant and contrary to the great self-confidence of Chinese civilization. A profound ideological change is in the making.
Yongzheng implemented a strict policy of banning religion, which led to the decline of the power of ** religion in China. However, after Qianlong ascended the throne, the Holy See remained stubborn and tried to reverse this trend. This angered the Qianlong Emperor, who took a tougher stance against the Pope, bleaking the prospects for the development of the Church in China.
In 1742, Benedict XIV became pope. In order to reverse the decline of the church in China, he boldly abolished the policy of tolerance and proselytizing formulated "after Matteo Ricci came to China", and reissued a ban on Christianity, forcibly outlawing the cultural traditions of Chinese Christians. This undoubtedly angered Emperor Qianlong.
The following year, many Filipino missionaries secretly infiltrated China to preach. Soon, they were arrested by Zhang Jia and escorted to Beijing. Zhang Xuejian asked for immediate and severe punishment to set an example. Qianlong decisively approved and personally supervised the entire process of the missionary's trial.
The Holy See suffered a serious blow as they tried to pass"Dancing knives to get heads"ways to revive the influence of Roman Catholicism in the Far East. However, this move not only failed, but also caused great losses to the church. For the next two centuries, the power of the ** religion in China collapsed and could only barely be maintained.
This lesson plan, which originated from differences in cultural identity, actually marked the first series of clashes between the two major civilizational systems of the East and the West. It foreshadowed the changing balance of power between East and West before and after the Opium Wars, and showed that China had to deal with a full-scale shock and challenge from the West.
We must not be blinded by the bloody and violent images of history, but should take a deeper look at the underlying logic behind the turning point of this era. This is a more realistic and rational attitude.
History does not allow for assumptions, but it is our duty to speculate that if the missionaries had been more tolerant and more integrated with Chinese culture, they might have been able to avoid the later ban on religion. This assumption may provide a useful reference for our understanding of history.
There is an old Chinese saying: the will of the people is the greatest politics. Any foreign regime that wants to take root in China must first gain the approval of the common people. However, there are still many Western politicians and scholars today who accuse China of rejecting Western culture, and they do not understand this truth.
Contemporary China is far from being comparable to the feudal era, and is more tolerant and open. But the field of culture has always been"When you come in, you have to bow your head"Target. Otherwise, the conflict between East and West is likely to continue this century. This is a fact that no responsible politician can ignore.
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