Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy
The Chinese Rites Controversy is a dispute from the 17-18th century on whether it was permissible for Catholics to participate in ancestor rites and the veneration of Confucius. At its climax, Pope Clement XI ruled that they were impermissible, and in response the reigning Kangxi Emperor (康熙帝) wrote...
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| Format: | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| Language: | English |
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Nanyang Technological University
2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155987 |
| _version_ | 1826123414462529536 |
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| author | Tan, Louis Aquinas Kai Rong |
| author2 | Els van Dongen |
| author_facet | Els van Dongen Tan, Louis Aquinas Kai Rong |
| author_sort | Tan, Louis Aquinas Kai Rong |
| collection | NTU |
| description | The Chinese Rites Controversy is a dispute from the 17-18th century on whether it was permissible for Catholics to participate in ancestor rites and the veneration of Confucius. At its climax, Pope Clement XI ruled that they were impermissible, and in response the reigning Kangxi Emperor (康熙帝) wrote the Imperial Ban to prohibit all missionary activity by Westerners. Why did the emperor respond in such a manner? Setting aside the trope on a clash of cultures between East and West, I make the case that Kangxi acted in such a manner to retain ancestor and Confucius rites as tools for exerting imperial influence. This essay contains a pioneering study in the conflict between the demands of Kangxi’s 1670 Sacred Edict (shengyu 聖) and Clement XI's 1715 anti-rites ruling Ex Illa Die. While the pope explicitly forbade Middle Kingdom Catholics from visiting the “ edibus Confucii (Houses of
Confucius)” on the “Novilunio (New Moon)” and “Plenilunio (Full Moon)”, the emperor obliged all imperial subjects to visit their local Confucian shrine or hall on the first day (i.e. New Moon) of each month in a ceremony proclaiming the Sacred Edict, which was essentially state propaganda in Confucian verse. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:04:16Z |
| format | Final Year Project (FYP) |
| id | ntu-10356/155987 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:04:16Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Nanyang Technological University |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1559872023-03-11T20:10:46Z Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy Tan, Louis Aquinas Kai Rong Els van Dongen School of Humanities EVanDongen@ntu.edu.sg Humanities::History The Chinese Rites Controversy is a dispute from the 17-18th century on whether it was permissible for Catholics to participate in ancestor rites and the veneration of Confucius. At its climax, Pope Clement XI ruled that they were impermissible, and in response the reigning Kangxi Emperor (康熙帝) wrote the Imperial Ban to prohibit all missionary activity by Westerners. Why did the emperor respond in such a manner? Setting aside the trope on a clash of cultures between East and West, I make the case that Kangxi acted in such a manner to retain ancestor and Confucius rites as tools for exerting imperial influence. This essay contains a pioneering study in the conflict between the demands of Kangxi’s 1670 Sacred Edict (shengyu 聖) and Clement XI's 1715 anti-rites ruling Ex Illa Die. While the pope explicitly forbade Middle Kingdom Catholics from visiting the “ edibus Confucii (Houses of Confucius)” on the “Novilunio (New Moon)” and “Plenilunio (Full Moon)”, the emperor obliged all imperial subjects to visit their local Confucian shrine or hall on the first day (i.e. New Moon) of each month in a ceremony proclaiming the Sacred Edict, which was essentially state propaganda in Confucian verse. Bachelor of Arts in History 2022-03-30T08:13:36Z 2022-03-30T08:13:36Z 2022 Final Year Project (FYP) Tan, L. A. K. R. (2022). Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155987 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155987 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::History Tan, Louis Aquinas Kai Rong Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy |
| title | Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy |
| title_full | Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy |
| title_fullStr | Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy |
| title_short | Trading Jesuits for ritual influence : Kangxi's wager in the Chinese Rites Controversy |
| title_sort | trading jesuits for ritual influence kangxi s wager in the chinese rites controversy |
| topic | Humanities::History |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155987 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tanlouisaquinaskairong tradingjesuitsforritualinfluencekangxiswagerinthechineseritescontroversy |