Yang Tingyun: integrating Confucian scholar bureaucrats and Catholics
2022-03-28
In 1611, in the 39th year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, a remarkable funeral was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, which unexpectedly changed the life path of a participant. This was the funeral held by wailang Li Zhizao, a member of the Nanjing Ministry of work at that time, for his dead father. The reason why the funeral attracted attention was that it was held in accordance with Catholic and Chinese etiquette. When Yang Tingyun attended this special form of funeral, he decided to convert to Catholicism. At this time, he was 54 years old. This special funeral arose after Catholicism was introduced into China. When Xu Guangqi's father died four years ago, Xu Guangqi discussed with priests to bury his father in this special form. He decorated the mourning hall with black satin, placed candles and spices, put on a rough white funeral dress, and held a Catholic Memorial mass. In the more than ten years since his baptism, Yang Tingyun has written works such as Dai Yi Bian, Dai Yi Xu Bian, Sheng Shui Ji Yan and Tian Shi Ming Bian to explain the Catholic doctrine. Because he spared no effort to expound Catholicism, he was known as one of the three pillars of Catholicism in China. At the same time, Yang Tingyun was also a standard Confucian scholar bureaucrat. He was a scholar and learned well, and he had close contacts with the first-class Confucian scholars at that time. Ye Xianggao, the first deputy, spoke highly of him. Zou yuanbiao, the leader of the Donglin Party, once praised him as a "good ancient man". After 11 years of his baptism, Zou yuanbiao also recommended him as the Deputy envoy of Henan press inspection department. Yang Tingyun is not only a highly praised Catholic, but also a typical Confucian scholar official. Unlike Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao, he paid attention to scientific and mathematical knowledge and made it clear that he did not understand these knowledge. He was concerned about philosophy and moral ethics, which were the core contents of Confucianism. Yang Tingyun did not use the advantages of Western learning to make up for the shortcomings of Confucianism, but integrated Catholicism and Confucianism at the level of philosophy and ethics. He is a profound theoretical thinker of Catholicism in China. In 1557 (the 36th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty), Yang Tingyun was born in Renhe County, Hangzhou. In 1592, he became a Jinshi and then became the magistrate of Anfu county, Jiangxi Province. During his seven years in Anfu county, Yang Tingyun acted in strict accordance with the duties of a Confucian official, delaying taxes, rebuilding granaries, relieving famine and actively running a school. His local political experience made him widely praised and won the title of "benevolent Hou", and he was able to make friends with some important Confucian scholars and bureaucrats at that time, including Liu Yuanqing, one of the "four gentlemen of the right river", Wang Shihuai, another disciple of Yangming. In 1599 (the 27th year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty), Yang Tingyun was transferred back to Beijing because of his outstanding local political achievements, entered the ducha academy and began a 10-year career as a censor. Until 1609 (the 37th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty), Yang Tingyun was transferred to the post of deputy envoy of Jiangxi Province. Because he repeatedly talked about fiscal and tax disadvantages, he offended senior officials, so he resigned and retired to his hometown. After returning to Hangzhou, Yang Tingyun successively contacted Buddhism and Catholicism, and converted to Catholicism after attending Li Zhizao's father's funeral. This experience reveals the common phenomenon of Confucian scholar bureaucrats. After retiring in the mountains and forests, they often choose a certain personal belief, usually Buddhism in history. This is because Confucianism focuses on earthly public ethics, but does not pay much attention to personal death and post death problems. Yang Tingyun converted to Catholicism after attending the funeral, also out of such a special concern for death. He once said that Confucianism did not discuss what happened after death, so it needs religion to supplement it. Paying attention to death is a special function of religion. It puts forward a series of ideas such as heaven and hell. Yang Tingyun paid special attention to this and often talked about these issues in his works. He divided the whole world into three levels: Heaven at the top, hell at the bottom and the world in the middle. He believes that heaven is where God and Saints live, and hell is where demons and sinners live. The good and evil of these two have been determined, while the human world is where good and evil are uncertain. Therefore, people need to cultivate morality, which is a cosmic order arranged according to good, evil and morality. Yang Tingyun did not want to talk about the specific details of heaven and hell, but only said that nothing in the world can be compared with it. With the concise characteristics of Confucianism, he refined the internal spiritual principles of these problems and simplified these complex religious problems. This principle is morality. The three levels of heaven, hell and earth are divided according to the classical order of heaven, earth and man in Confucianism. The key to get through the three is morality. People can go up and down precisely because of their moral uncertainty. Yang Tingyun, who was deeply influenced by Wang Yangming's psychology when he worked in Jiangxi, understood human nature with the content of psychology and Catholicism. It is not only people's internal moral conscience, but also endowed by the outside. This has found an objective and universal solid foundation for internal conscience. Although this is a Catholic view of human nature, Yang Tingyun regarded it as a kind of moral conscience in a Confucian way of understanding, and, like Ricci, regarded God as the source of the soul as the "God" in ancient Chinese classics. This combination of ideas is a kind of mastery, and each other has obtained theoretical updates from this integration. The successful integration of human nature theory must be reflected in the level of human behavior, which provides the basis for the integration of history and etiquette, which is the key to the Sinicization of Catholicism. For Yang Tingyun, the soul given by God is bright and kind, and all morally perfect saints are the embodiment of good and light of human nature. It was with morality as the universal standard that Yang Tingyun transcended the limitations of specific religion and history, reached the realm of sage integration of "the East China Sea and the West China Sea, with the same mind", and included Yao, Shun, Wen, Wu, Duke of Zhou, Kong and Meng into the ranks of saints; On the contrary, when praising those excellent missionaries, they said that they had the style of Confucianism before the Han Dynasty. Catholicism was not born in China, nor was Jesus born in China. The Chinese people have their own moral sages and teachings. If they can not integrate the Catholic faith with the sages tradition of Chinese history, the Chinese people who believe in Catholicism will inevitably deny the traditional sages and their teachings, which will create a huge fracture and separation in Chinese society. Based on his concept of human nature, Yang Tingyun established the position of sage in Chinese history in Catholicism. Since then, Yang Tingyun further integrated the Confucian God system, sacrificial rites and Catholic doctrines and rites. The Confucianists successfully integrated the society into a community by offering sacrifices to gods, ancestors and sages. Yang Tingyun was well aware of the importance of sacrifice to Chinese tradition. At that time, Catholicism did not prohibit the sacrifice of ancestors and sages. The key is that for Catholicism, the sacrifice of 100 gods is easy to be regarded as idolatry, while for Confucianism, not sacrificing 100 gods is contrary to the spirit of respecting merit and virtue. Yang Tingyun incorporated all these gods into Catholicism and regarded God as the supreme ruler who created these gods. The hundred gods are all kinds of angels. They are in charge of guarding all things and have credit. Therefore, they should be sacrificed. However, he said that because there are too many gods to offer sacrifices to all, Catholicism advocates only offering sacrifices to God, because God is the Lord of all gods, and offering sacrifices to God includes offering sacrifices to all gods. Through this internal reconciliation, Yang Tingyun integrated the seemingly conflicting sacrificial rituals that were not originally in the same system, so as to resolve the contradictions and conflicts that may be caused by the differences in etiquette, so that Catholicism can survive in the daily life of the Chinese people. From theoretical concepts to specific rituals, Yang Tingyun integrated Catholicism and Chinese culture, which is not only due to his outstanding theoretical comprehensive ability, but also due to his broad and open mind committed to narrowing and maintaining bilateral relations. He told Ricci's successor, long Huamin, that there were many interpretations of classics; He even praised the Buddhist concept of heaven and hell in front of the Longhua people, perhaps to help missionaries understand Buddhism. When long Huamin and Qian Xiangkun, the right chamberlain of the Ministry of rites, may have a dispute over Confucius and Jesus, Yang Tingyun asked long Huamin to be patient. He told the missionaries that to explain things, we should look at both sides, so that we can take into account both sides of the debate, meet and win over the people. Yang Tingyun is clearly well aware of the possible conflict, so he tries to bridge the differences between the two sides at all levels. From a theoretical point of view to daily life, Yang Tingyun, who is extremely thoughtful, is trying to narrow the distance between the eastern and Western cultures. As a Confucian scholar bureaucrat who converted to Catholicism, he always tries his best to take into account both sides. His funeral for his parents is a famous example. At that time, the famous writer Chen Jiru praised his practice: "crawling funeral, there is Ziyang family law"; Italian Jesuit missionary Eliot and others praised him: "according to the grand ceremony of the Holy Church, there is dignity, which is different from the common customs". He himself took out Zhu Xi's "family etiquette" as the basis, indicating that he was following the ideas of pre Confucianism. Yang Tingyun, who began to convert from one funeral, showed his spirit of integration at another funeral. Yang Tingyun's theory and practice provide a reference for the Sinicization of Catholicism. (outlook new era)
Edit：Yuanqi Tang Responsible editor：Xiao Yu
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