jesus-christ and the chinese religious worldjap

Benot Vermander Jesus-Christ and the Chinese Religious World Taipei Ricci Institute February 22, 2007 http://www.erenlai.com/index.php?aid=687&lan=3

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1 W. Kasper, Jesus, the Christ, London, Burns and Oates, 1976, pp.267-268

67320 I.. C.K..2 2 C.K. Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, Taipei, SMC Publishing, 1994, p.20


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3 Benoit Vermander, Religions in Taiwan Today, China News Analysis, no 1538-1539, July 1995; Christianity and the Taiwanese Religious Landscape, The Way, 39(2), April 1999 4 In Hans Kung, Julia King, Christianity and Chinese Religions, New York, Doubleday, 1989, p.224


II. 635(The Jesus-Messiah Sutra)56781 The Sutra on Mysterious Rest and JoyAn(Le)guan4 7 8 5 Translation of this text and other Nestorian documents in SAEKI P.Y., The Nestorian Documents and Relics in China, Tokyo, The Academy of Oriental Culture, Maruzen, 1951. I do not enter here into the question raised by the qualification of Nestorian conferred upon Syrian monks. On that particular issue, see EVES RAGUIN, Le Jesus-Messie de Xian, in Le Christ Chinois, B. Vermander, ed., Paris, DDB, 1998 [a], pp.35-55; Yves Raguin, Le Premire Evanglisation de la Cine par des Moines Syro-Orientaux aux VII me et VIIIme Sicles, The Ricci Bulletin 98, Taipei Ricci Institute, 1998 [b], pp.123-140 6 The imperial edict of 638 us a very interesting document as such. It says: The way has not a constant name, the Saints have not a constant mode; they establish their teaching to suit their region, that all living may be mysteriously saved. The Persian monk Aluoben, bringing texts and images from far, has come to offer them at the supreme capitalLet the responsible authorities thereforebuild one Persian Monastery, and ordain (or recognize) as monks twenty-one persons: Translation by A. FORTE, in Paul, in Paul Pelliot, Linscription Nestorienne de Si-Ngang-Fou, Edited with Supplements by A.Forte, Paris, Collge de France, Institut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, 1996, p.357 7 i.e. Simon Peter, the Priest Simon. 8 SAEKI, op.cit., pp.280-281.


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9 RAGUIN, 1998 [b], pp.128-129 10 Translation in PELLIOT, op.cit. pp.173-180 11 Gianni CRIVELLER, Preaching Christ in Late Ming China, the Jesuits Presentation of Christ from Matteo Ricci to Giulio Aleni, Taipei, Taipei Ricci Institute, 1997, p.340


Maitreya, 12 13 18511864 III. 20188019421415

12 On the messianic character of Laozi, see Anna SEIDEL, The Image of the Perfect Ruler in Early Taoist Messianism: Laozi and Li Hung, History of Religions 9 (Nov. 1969/ Febr.1970), pp.216-247. On Maitreya, See A. SPONBERG and H. HARDACRE, Maitreya, the Future Buddha, Cambridge, Cambridge U.P., 1988. 13 Richard, SHEK, Chinese Millenarian Movement, Encyclopedia of Religion, New York, MacMillan Publishing Company, vol.9, p.536. 14 1929 15 1920p.19


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18 1920 16 ibid, p.22 17 Translation by Gladys Yang in Silent China, Selected writing of Lu Xun, Oxford, Oxford U.P., 1973, pp.120-121. 18 L.S.Robinson, Double-Edged Sword, Christianity and 20th Century Fiction, Hong Kong, Tao Fong Shan, 1986, p.78 19 C.J.Alber, Wild Grass, Symmetry and Parallelism in Lu Hsuns Prose Poems in Critical Essays on Chinese Literature, W.H.Nienhauser, Jr., Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1976, p.10 20 Much is still to be written on these literary developments. Some background information can be found in ROBINSON, op.cit.;I. EBER, S-K. WAN and K.WALF, eds., Bible in Modern China, the Literary and Intellectual Impact, Sankt Augustin, Monumenta Serica Monograph Series XLIII, Steyler Verl., 1999; B.S. McDougall and K.Louie, The Literature of China in the Twentieth Century, New York, Columbia U.P., 1998.


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21 This is a point that the Chinese theologian Liu Xiaofeng repeatedly stresses. I have translated into French an article of his that deals with the question of the relationship between a persons creed and cultural background in Le Christ Chinois,op.cit., pp.227- 237. 22 On the recent developments of the Cultural Christians phenomenon, see Peter K.H.Lee, The Cultural Christians Phenomenon in China, Ching Feng, 39(4), December 1996, pp.307- 321. 23 CHANG, The Inculturation of Theology in the Chinese Church, Asian Theological Search, n.15, Colombo, Center for Society and Religion, August 1984, p.20.


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24 Mark Fang, (Images of Christ reflected by Confucius) Collecttanea Theologica Universitatis Fujen 61 (Fall 1984), pp.367- 374 25 Mark Fang, (A Christian looks at Confucius relationships with his disciples), Daofeng (Logos and Pneuma), 8 (Spring 1998), pp.197-208. French version in Le Christ chinois, op.cit., pp.123-139. 26 Maria Ko()(The Affection of Christ for Nature and Humanity from the Perspective of Two Thousand Years after his Death) (Spirit) 34, August 1997, pp.15-23. 27 Dao invariably takes no action and yet there is nothing left undone says the Daodeijing, chapter 37. As far as it characterizes the attitude of the Sage, Nonaction implies non-violence and detachment.


Michiyo Sato
