Jesuit Mission and Submission: Qing Rulership and the Fate of Christianity in China, 1644-1735

Litian Swen holds a Ph.D (2019) from The City University of New York. He has published several articles in Chinese on Chinese History.

"Jesuit Mission and Submission by Swen Litian is a thought-provoking, intelligently researched and presented, and very timely publication that I would advise all students of early Qing China and of the Jesuit missionary enterprise to read without delay." -Lars Peter Laamann, SOAS, University of London Journal of Jesuit Studies, 157-160."Litian Swen's work Jesuit Mission and Submission expands our understanding of the oft-celebrated Qing-era Jesuit missions through a thorough reorientation of the Jesuit experience as part of preexisting Manchu cultural traditions. By expanding the early modern cultural-conflicts paradigm by situating it in the context of Manchu culture, rather than the traditional Chinese-Western dichotomy, Swen brings a new perspective to well-trod historiographical ground... This work represents a significant shift in our understanding of cultural conflicts in early modern China." -Ashleigh Ikemoto, Georgia College and State University, The Journal of Asian Studies, 187-188."Swen's persistent focus on individuals (particularly emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng) and their family network also serves to explain how occurrences that elude historical patterns such as coincidences, personal choices, and unpredictable events can all contribute to shape history. It is in this light that Swen recommends historians to reassess the rise and fall of the Jesuit mission to China so as to provide a fresh perspective on a narrative otherwise focused on its inevitable failure. Such an original and well-documented argument, alongside the authors meticulous analysis of the sources, are only two of the elements that make Swens study a valuable and welcome contribution to the field." -Giulia Falato, University of Oxford, Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, 692-695."The combination of striking success and dramatic failure of the Jesuit missionaries as advisors to the seventeenth and eighteenth century Chinese imperial court has long attracted the attention of historians. Jesuit Mission and Submission by Swen Litian represents the latest effort to explain the dynamics of this unique historical relationship. As a revision of his dissertation (2019) and as a first book, it is avery impressive effort. The most successful part of the book deals with Swens attempt to show how the nature of the Beijing Jesuits relationship to the imperial court changed at the time of the MingQing transition." -D. E. Mungello, Baylor University, Monumenta Serica,Journal of Oriental Studies

• AcknowledgementsList of Figures and TablesIntroduction1 Confusions over the Relationship between Kangxi and the Jesuits2 The Cultural-Conflicts Paradigm and Its Problems3 Manchu’s Master-Slave Relationship4 Booi Slaves and Qing Rulership5 The Imperial Household Department in the Qing Power Network6 Missionaries and the Imperial Household Department7 Were the Missionaries Booi Slaves of Kangxi?8 Viewing Missionaries through the Lens of the Master-Slave RelationshipPART 1The Jesuits’ Identity and Qing Rulership, 1644–17051 Jesuits and Their Entrance in the Manchu World1 Captives in a Battlefield2 Jesuits as Slaves and the Legacy of the Tong Clan3 Manchus’ Impression of Europeans4 Jesuits’ First Helpers5 Jesuits’ Involvement in the Cannon Business6 The Tong Clan and the Jesuits7 Released from the Slave Status8 Conclusion2 The Jesuits’ Strategic Turn1 Missionaries Arrested: the Calendar Case of 16642 The Manchu Way or the Chinese Way?3 Manchu’s Religious Policies4 Confucian-Christian Relationship on Schall’s Birthday5 Yang Guangxian: Not a Confucian6 Divination and Confucianism7 Schall’s Involvement in Chinese Divination8 Trials, and Buglio and de Magalhaens’s Manchu Network9 Conclusion3 The Jesuits and Kangxi’s Imperial Household Department1 Kangxi’s Political Backbone2 Jesuits’ Contributions3 Jesuits’ Participation in Court Politics4 Verbiest’s Strategy and Legacy5 The Edict of Toleration6 The Jesuits’ Identity in the Kangxi Court7 The New French Jesuits and Their Network8 ConclusionPART 2Emperor Kangxi’s Negotiations with the Pope, 1705–17214 Kangxi, the Jesuits, and the First Papal Legation to China1 The Kangxi Emperor and His Empire before 17052 The Papal Legation in Kangxi’s Eyes3 The First Audience4 The Chinese Rites Controversy During de Tournon’s Stay in Beijing5 The Farewell Audience6 The Jesuits’ Omission7 After the Farewell Audience8 Piao<9 Conclusion5 Kangxi’s Fourteen-Year Wait and the Second Papal Legation1 Waiting for a Response from Rome2 The Red Manifesto: Kangxi’s Open Letter to Europe3 Kangxi’s Unusual Patience: Why?4 Making Threats and Making the Deal5 ConclusionPART 3The Prohibition in 17246 The Yongzheng Emperor and Christian Missionaries1 Kangxi’s Late Years2 Yongzheng’s Enthronement3 Missionaries’ Efforts4 Why Did Yongzheng Prohibit Christianity5 Yongzheng’s Own Explanations for Prohibition6 The Prohibition from the View of Others7 Buddhism: the Basis of Yongzheng’s Intellectual and Spiritual Mind8 Buddhism and Its Influence on Yongzheng9 Yongzheng’s Buddhism and the Prohibition of Christianity10 ConclusionPostscripts: Coincidences? the Rise and Fall of the Christian MissionAppendix 1 Yongzheng’s Letter to Nian Gengyao Regarding the Master-Slave RelationAppendix 2 Kangxi’s Note to Threaten the Prohibition of ChristianityBibliographyIndex