Yang Tingyun: Confucianist Scholar Officials and Catholics
2022-12-19
In 1611, the 39th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, a remarkable funeral was held in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, which unexpectedly changed the life trajectory of a participant. Yang Tingyun Portrait Data Picture This is the funeral of his dead father held by Wailang Li Zhizao, a member of the Nanjing Ministry of Work at that time. The reason why the funeral is so eye-catching is that it is held in accordance with Catholic and Chinese etiquette. When Yang Tingyun attended this special funeral and decided to convert to Catholicism, he was 54 years old. This special funeral was born 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 crude white mourning clothes, and held a Catholic memorial mass. In more than ten years after his baptism, Yang Tingyun wrote his works "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 promote Catholicism, he was called one of the three pillars of Chinese Catholicism. At the same time, Yang Tingyun was also a standard Confucian scholar bureaucrat, a scholar and scholar, who studied well and became an official. He had close contact with the first-class Confucian scholars at that time. Ye Xianggao, the first aide, spoke highly of him. Zou Yuanbiao, the leader of the Donglin Party, once praised him as a "good ancient man". After 11 years of baptism, Zou Yuanbiao also recommended him to serve as the deputy envoy of Henan provincial police. Yang Tingyun is not only a highly praised Catholic, but also a typical Confucian scholar bureaucrat. Unlike Xu Guangqi and Li Zhizao, he did not pay attention to scientific and mathematical knowledge. He made it clear that he did not understand these knowledge and was concerned with philosophy and ethics, which were the core contents of Confucianism. Yang Tingyun is not using the advantages of Western learning to supplement the shortcomings of Confucianism, but integrating Catholicism and Confucianism at the philosophical and ethical levels. He is a profound theoretical thinker of the sinicization of Catholicism. Yang Tingyun was born in Renhe County, Hangzhou in 1557 (the 36th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty). In 1592, he became a scholar and then served as the magistrate of Anfu County, Jiangxi Province. Yang Tingyun had been in Anfu County for seven years, acting in strict accordance with the duties of a Confucian official, slowing tax collection, rebuilding granaries, relieving famine, and actively running schools. This local political experience made him widely praised and won the title of "benevolent marquis", and he was able to make friends with some important Confucian scholars at that time, including Liu Yuanqing, one of the "four gentlemen in the right of the Yangtze River", Wang Shihuai, a disciple of Yangming's reincarnation, and others. In 1599 (the 27th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty), Yang Tingyun was transferred back to Beijing for his outstanding local political achievements and entered the Imperial Court, where he began his 10-year career as a historian. It was not until 1609 (the 37th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty) that Yang Tingyun was transferred to the post of Deputy Envoy of Jiangxi. He offended senior officials by repeatedly commenting on fiscal and tax problems, so he resigned from the post and retired to his hometown. After returning to Hangzhou, Yang Tingyun contacted Buddhism and Catholicism successively, and converted to Catholicism after attending Li Zhizao's father's funeral. This experience revealed the common phenomenon of Confucian scholar bureaucrats. After they retired to the mountains, they often chose a certain personal belief, usually Buddhism in history. This is because Confucianism focuses on secular public ethics, but does not pay too much attention to personal death and post death issues.
Edit：luoyu Responsible editor：jiajia
Source：mzb.com
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