An Account of the Entry of the Catholic Religion into Sichuan,[a] also referred to as Mission to Sichuan, is a 1918 history book edited by Paris Foreign Missions Society missionary François-Marie-Joseph Gourdon in Chinese, and published by the Imprimerie de la Sainte-Famille[b] in the city of Chongqing,[c][1][2] with the approval of Célestin Chouvellon, Apostolic Vicar of Eastern Szechwan.[3]
| Editor | François-Marie-Joseph Gourdon |
|---|---|
| Original title | 聖教入川記 |
| Language | Traditional Chinese (first ed.); simplified Chinese (reprint) |
| Subject | History of the Catholic Church in Sichuan; conquest and massacre of Sichuan by Zhang Xianzhong |
| Genre | History |
| Publisher |
|
Publication date | 1918 (first edition) April 1981 (reprint) |
| Publication place | Republican China |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages |
|
| OCLC | 14946442 |
Synopsis
editAllegedly based on Relação das tyranias obradas por Canghien Chungo famoso ladrão da China em o anno de 1651[4] ('Account of Tyrannies Wrought by Zhang Xianzhong, China's Famous Looter in the Year 1651') by Gabriel de Magalhães, the book recounts the early history of Roman Catholic mission in Sichuan throughout the 1640s, providing first-hand witness testimony by Lodovico Buglio and Gabriel de Magalhães on Zhang Xianzhong's reign and massacre in Sichuan.[5] As well as the subsequent development of the Church in Sichuan up until the date of its publication.
Editions
editThe first edition contains 76 pages, published in Chongqing by the Imprimerie de la Sainte-Famille, aimed at Catholics in east Sichuan, hence is limited to only 2000 copies.[6] A Chronicle by Mister Wuma was added to the end of the reprint edition, making a total of 139 pages.[7] This version is limited to 3200 copies, published for historical research only.[6]
The editor
edit
François-Marie-Joseph Gourdon was born in 1842. In 1866, he was sent to the Apostolic Vicariate of Eastern Szechwan by Paris Foreign Missions Society, he died in Chongqing in 1927.[8] During his station in Chongqing, Gourdon took charge of several seminaries and temporarily assumed the role of superior of the major seminary. In 1904, he co-founded the bimonthly newspaper La Vérité with a fellow missionary Henri Louis (1870–1950),[3] which became weekly the following year and had two thousand subscribers.[8] An Account was edited and noted by Gourdon based on a hand-copy manuscript that he received from a Jesuit in Shanghai,[1] which contains detailed accounts of the first Catholic mission in Sichuan carried out by Lodovico Buglio and Gabriel de Magalhães, and allegedly being Relação das tyranias obradas por Canghien Chungo famoso ladrão da China em o anno de 1651 authored by the latter.[9] He was also the author of Grammatica latina accomodata ad usum alumnorum missionis Se-tchouan orientalis (1894), Acta RR.DD. V.A. Missionis Se-tchouan Collecta (1901) and Beati Martyres provinciæ Se-tchouan in Sinis 1815–1823 (1901).[8]
Reception
editOn NetEase, a review says: 'The book provides valuable first-hand historical materials for the study of Zhang Xianzhong's Daxi regime'.[10] Zheng Guanglu, a Sichuanese writer from Chengdu, remarked that the book is one of the hard evidences of the Sichuan massacre carried out by Zhang Xianzhong, in contrast to the false claim made by some historians that the massacre was fabricated by feudal landlord class out of instinctive hatred against peasant class and uprisings led by it.[11]
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ In traditional Chinese: 聖教入川記; simplified Chinese: 圣教入川记; pinyin: Shèng Jiào Rù Chuān Jì; Wade–Giles: Shêng Chiao Ju Chuan Chi; Sichuanese romanization: Shen Chiao Ru Chuan Chi; lit. 'An Account of the Entry of the Holy Religion into Sichuan'. Sichuan, formerly romanized as Szechwan in English, and Setchouan in French.
- ^ traditional Chinese: 聖家書局; simplified Chinese: 圣家书局; pinyin: Shèngjiā Shūjú; Sichuanese romanization: Shen4 Chia1 Shu1 Chü5; lit. 'Holy Family Press'
- ^ Formerly romanized as Chungking in English, and Tchongkin in French.
References
edit- ^ a b Swen, Litian (8 March 2021). Jesuit Mission and Submission: Qing Rulership and the Fate of Christianity in China, 1644-1735. Leiden: Brill Publishers. p. 28. ISBN 9789004447011.
- ^ Zheng, Yangwen, ed. (18 April 2017). Sinicizing Christianity. Leiden: Brill Publishers. p. 36. ISBN 9789004330382.
- ^ a b Gourdon 1981, p. 1.
- ^ Cordier, Henri (1878). Dictionnaire bibliographique des ouvrages relatifs à l'Empire chinois (in French). Paris. p. 289.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Chan, Hok-lam (2011). "傳教士對張獻忠據蜀稱王的記載：《聖教入川記》的宗教與文化觀點" [Jesuits' Impressions on Zhang Xianzhong in Sichuan (1644–1647) from Buglio, Magalhães, and Gourdon: Contrasting Religious and Cultural Perspectives of Shengjiao Ru Chuan Ji] (PDF). 中國文化研究所學報 [Journal of Chinese Studies] (in Traditional Chinese) (52). Hong Kong: Institute of Chinese Studies: 68. ISSN 1016-4464. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ a b Wang, Yan. "圣教入川蒙难记——见证与反思" [The 'Passion' of the Holy Religion in Sichuan: Witness and Reflection]. ccsana.org (in Simplified Chinese). Archived from the original on 6 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ Gourdon 1981, pp. 96–139.
- ^ a b c "François GOURDON". irfa.paris (in French). Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ Gourdon 1981, p. 4.
- ^ "法国有本古书，揭示张献忠的惊人计划：收四个干儿子，征服全世界" [A Book Edited by a Frenchman Reveals Zhang Xianzhong's Unbelievable Ambition]. 163.com (in Simplified Chinese). 28 January 2020. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
- ^ "'张献忠屠四川'非造假 成都曾挖出万人枯骨坑" [The Massacre of Sichuan by Zhang Xianzhong is Not a Fabrication, A Mass Grave Had Been Dug Up in Chengdu]. news.qq.com (in Simplified Chinese). 8 April 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
Bibliography
edit- Gourdon, François-Marie-Joseph, ed. (1981) [1918]. 圣教入川记 [An Account of the Entry of the Catholic Religion into Sichuan] (PDF) (in Simplified Chinese). Chengdu: Sichuan People's Publishing House.