文：

作者：Shi Xijuan 史習雋 ,

题目：“Jo Kôkei no shinzoku kanken to Shanhai chi-iki ni okeru Tenshukyô juyô” 徐光啟の親族關係と上海地域における天主教受容 (The reception of Catholicism in Shanghai: The role of kinship in the work of Xu Guangqi), in:

Toyo gakuho 東洋學報 (The Journal of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko), vol. 97, no. 3 (December 2015), pp. 33-62 (第九十七卷 二八七 ﹣ 三一六).

Abstract (pp. ii-iii):

Xu Guangqi, one of the first and most notable Christian scholars of the Ming period, who exerted profound influence on the spread of Catholicism in Shanghai, upon his conversion successfully converted all of his family members, including kin and affine, a fact that was foundational to the development of Society of Jesus’ missionary activities in Shanghai.

Being considered one of the most representative among Chinese Christian scholars, Xu has been the subject of a large amount of research dealing with his life and his indispensable role in the propagation of Catholicism and Western learning. However, most of the work to date focuses on Xu’s personal achievements, such as his intellectual contributions to the development of Western science (agriculture, astronomy, mathematics, etc.) inChina, but at the same time fails to mention the significant role that Xu’s kinship relationships played in the reception and proliferation of Christianity inShanghai.

Most of the existing research on Chinese Christians during the late Ming period tends to focus on males, leaving female adherents vitually unknown to the reader. For example, although Candida, one of Xu’s granddaughters, has been described as playing a very important role in propagating the Faith through her blood and marital affiliations, the rest of the female members of Xu’s family have yet to be studied. The author of this article finds it necessary to look into the reception of Catholicism by all of these women, in order to figure out the roles they played during the conversion of Xu’s family, in particular, and the impact of Christianity on traditional Chinese gentry society in general.

For this purpose, the author utilizes such Chinese historical records as local chronicles and collected works, combined with Jesuit missionary records, to show the role of kinship and affinity in Xu Guangqi’s evangelistic efforts, particularly the role of women, in the hope of deepening and thus providing a more comprehensive understanding of Xu Guangqi’s contribution to the propagation of Catholicism in Shanghai.