Ma Xiangbo: Catholic, Patriot, Educator
2022-12-28
In April 1939, an old man celebrated his 100th birthday. The National Government of Chongqing issued a commendation order for the old man. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in Yan'an sent a congratulatory message, calling him "the light of the country and the glory of mankind". This old man is Ma Xiangbo, the first theological doctor in China, the first mayor of Nanjing, and the founder of Fudan University. In his one hundred years of ups and downs in life, he shared the same fate with the country, showing the feelings of a Catholic family and country. On April 7, 1840, when the British House of Commons was discussing the war in China, Ma Xiangbo was born in Dantu County, Jiangsu Province. His ancestral home is Majia Village, Danyang, Jiangsu Province. When Catholicism spread in the south of the Yangtze River, the Grand Canal was the main route of its spread. Majia Village, Danyang, was near the Grand Canal. The Opium War opened the door of China, and Catholicism, which had been banned for a hundred years, took the opportunity to return to China. Foreign missionaries found that there were still thousands of Catholics here in Danyang. In his childhood, Ma Xiangbo received Catholic education at home and Confucian education at the same time, and passed the Scholar's Examination. In 1851, at the age of 11, Ma Xiangbo went to Shanghai alone to study at the Etnajue Public School (later renamed Xuhui Public School) run by the Jesus Club, and later became an assistant teacher of Chinese and Confucian classics. In 1862, Ma Xiangbo entered the new Xujiahui Jesuit Theological Seminary Junior College to study. Two years later, he was promoted to the Overhaul Institute and joined the Jesuit Church. In 1870, Ma Xiangbo passed the examination of the Jesuit Society, completed the highest level of theology and philosophy education of the Jesuit Society, and obtained a doctor's degree in theology. However, Ma Xiangbo's doctoral degree in theology did not make him a thorough Jesuit, on the contrary, it enabled him to face the western culture more profoundly. As he grew older, he felt an unprecedented conflict and tension in the tension between the two cultures. This mixture of cultural tension and practical conflict eventually led to his break with the Jesuit Church. There is a big difference between Catholicism coming to China at the end of the Qing Dynasty and Catholicism coming to China at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Catholicism came to China through guns and unequal treaties. It is called "flying over on artillery shells". Its image is mixed with that of Western invaders. Moreover, when Catholicism returned to China, it still carried the ban on etiquette conflicts, which made the two parties enter into tension again as soon as they contacted each other. Ma Xiangbo was in this special situation. After receiving his doctorate, Ma Xiangbo served as the student supervisor of Xuhui Public School and was promoted to the president four years later. During this period, the differences between Ma Xiangbo and Catholicism gradually emerged. He attached great importance to the education of Chinese classics and history in school, and also led students to participate in the imperial examination, which made the church quite dissatisfied with him. Not only that, Ma Xiangbo also suffered a lot of unfair treatment in his life, which further inspired his national self-esteem. Later, recalling this period of life, he said that "foreigners think they are favored by heaven, and they look down upon Chinese people". Driven by multiple factors, his younger brother Ma Jianzhong left the Jesuits in 1874. Two years later, Ma Xiangbo also broke away from the Jesuits. This is the first stage of Ma Xiangbo's life. He witnessed the tension between Catholicism and China in the late Qing Dynasty, which also prompted him to think about the issue of Catholicism in China in his later life.
Edit：luoyu Responsible editor：jiajia
Source：mzb.com
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