我们注意到中国人基本上是非宗教的。我相信利玛窦神父在1581年抵达中国后就持有这个想法。
西方传教士主要目的是传教，但他们有个难题。中国中坚分子都属于儒家，一种源自孔子学说的实践哲学。而礼节是儒家的重心。
利玛窦很快就认定儒家不是宗教，而是为了社会之好而有的哲学。他观察到人们并没有以祷告来祭拜孔子，也没有向他要求什么。中国的礼节是社会礼节而不是宗教仪式，故入教者应该可以继续参与这些仪式。
十七世纪初，利玛窦的政策遇到了反对意见。St Marie 就是其中著名的反对者。他于1633年抵达中国，只住了三年。他要求所有入教者都应该放弃本身‘异教’思想信仰。St Marie 以他们在美洲成功的改变了美洲文化来证明他们的方法正确。
1707 年，Maigrot，一个极力反对中国礼节和对中国文化与语文了解不深的大主教在与康熙皇帝见面时，质疑康熙对中国词语的知识。康熙大为厌恶，明确地表明孔子的学说就是中华帝国的教义，如果传道者要留在中国，是不能被改变它的。
西方反对中国礼节的浪潮，在1715年达到了一个高点。那年教会禁止所有基督教徒实行中国礼节。到了1742年，基督教在中国被禁，西方人被驱逐，中西交流几乎停顿，直到1940年代。
2001年，教宗保罗二世承认天主教会过去在与中国交往上犯了错误，并形容利玛窦神父为中西，欧洲复兴文艺与中国文化，优秀的古中国文明与欧洲之间的珍贵的链节。
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We have noted that the Chinese people are basically non-religious. I suppose this was also what Father Matteo Ricci had in mind after he arrived in China in 1581.
The primary goal of the Jesuits was to spread Catholicism, but here they had a problem. The Chinese elite were attached to Confucianism, a practical philosophy derived from the teachings of Confucius. And ritual is central to Confucianism.
Ricci quickly determined that Confucianism was not a religion, but more like a philosophy which existed for the good of society. He observed that Confucius was not worshipped as the Chinese did not recite any prayers nor ask for any favour from him. The Chinese rites were social, not religious, ceremonies, and that converts should be allowed to continue to participate.
The opposition of Ricci’s policies started to appear in early 17th century. One of the prominent opponents was St Marie, who arrived in 1633 and spent only three years in China. He demanded total renunciation of native ‘pagan’ beliefs by all converts. St Marie pointed to their success in the Americans in the conversion of whole cultures as proof of their method.
In 1707, Bishop Charles Maigrot, who was deadly against Chinese rites and who knew very little about the Chinese culture and their language, challenged the emperor Kangxi’s knowledge of the meaning of Chinese terms in his meeting with the emperor. The emperor was disgusted, and made clear that the Doctrine of Confucius was the teaching of the Chinese empire, and it could not be touched if one wished that the missionaries remain in China.
The wave of anti-Chinese rites reached its high point in 1715 when the Church forbade Christians to practice Chinese rites. By 1742, Christianity was banned in China, Westerners expelled, and exchanges between China and the West virtually stopped until the 1940s.
In 2001, Pope John Paul II acknowledged the past errors of the Catholic Church in its relations with China and described Father Ricci as ‘a precious connecting link between West and East, between European Renaissance culture and Chinese culture, and between the ancient and magnificent Chinese civilization and the world of Europe.’
西方传教士主要目的是传教，但他们有个难题。中国中坚分子都属于儒家，一种源自孔子学说的实践哲学。而礼节是儒家的重心。
利玛窦很快就认定儒家不是宗教，而是为了社会之好而有的哲学。他观察到人们并没有以祷告来祭拜孔子，也没有向他要求什么。中国的礼节是社会礼节而不是宗教仪式，故入教者应该可以继续参与这些仪式。
十七世纪初，利玛窦的政策遇到了反对意见。St Marie 就是其中著名的反对者。他于1633年抵达中国，只住了三年。他要求所有入教者都应该放弃本身‘异教’思想信仰。St Marie 以他们在美洲成功的改变了美洲文化来证明他们的方法正确。
1707 年，Maigrot，一个极力反对中国礼节和对中国文化与语文了解不深的大主教在与康熙皇帝见面时，质疑康熙对中国词语的知识。康熙大为厌恶，明确地表明孔子的学说就是中华帝国的教义，如果传道者要留在中国，是不能被改变它的。
西方反对中国礼节的浪潮，在1715年达到了一个高点。那年教会禁止所有基督教徒实行中国礼节。到了1742年，基督教在中国被禁，西方人被驱逐，中西交流几乎停顿，直到1940年代。
2001年，教宗保罗二世承认天主教会过去在与中国交往上犯了错误，并形容利玛窦神父为中西，欧洲复兴文艺与中国文化，优秀的古中国文明与欧洲之间的珍贵的链节。
.
We have noted that the Chinese people are basically non-religious. I suppose this was also what Father Matteo Ricci had in mind after he arrived in China in 1581.
The primary goal of the Jesuits was to spread Catholicism, but here they had a problem. The Chinese elite were attached to Confucianism, a practical philosophy derived from the teachings of Confucius. And ritual is central to Confucianism.
Ricci quickly determined that Confucianism was not a religion, but more like a philosophy which existed for the good of society. He observed that Confucius was not worshipped as the Chinese did not recite any prayers nor ask for any favour from him. The Chinese rites were social, not religious, ceremonies, and that converts should be allowed to continue to participate.
The opposition of Ricci’s policies started to appear in early 17th century. One of the prominent opponents was St Marie, who arrived in 1633 and spent only three years in China. He demanded total renunciation of native ‘pagan’ beliefs by all converts. St Marie pointed to their success in the Americans in the conversion of whole cultures as proof of their method.
In 1707, Bishop Charles Maigrot, who was deadly against Chinese rites and who knew very little about the Chinese culture and their language, challenged the emperor Kangxi’s knowledge of the meaning of Chinese terms in his meeting with the emperor. The emperor was disgusted, and made clear that the Doctrine of Confucius was the teaching of the Chinese empire, and it could not be touched if one wished that the missionaries remain in China.
The wave of anti-Chinese rites reached its high point in 1715 when the Church forbade Christians to practice Chinese rites. By 1742, Christianity was banned in China, Westerners expelled, and exchanges between China and the West virtually stopped until the 1940s.
In 2001, Pope John Paul II acknowledged the past errors of the Catholic Church in its relations with China and described Father Ricci as ‘a precious connecting link between West and East, between European Renaissance culture and Chinese culture, and between the ancient and magnificent Chinese civilization and the world of Europe.’
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