Monografia a stampa
Stumpf, Kilian
Rome ; Macau : Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu : Ricci Institute, 2015
Abstract/Sommario: An important text in the history of contact between China and Europe – the Acta Pekinensia – has just been published. It is a joint publication by the Jesuit publisher of historical studies in Rome, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, and the Macau Ricci Institute. The book presents a lively account by the German Jesuit Kilian Stumpf written during the Papal Legation to China between 1705 and 1710. From his privileged position in Beijing, with local knowledge as director of the imp ...; [Leggi tutto...]
An important text in the history of contact between China and Europe – the Acta Pekinensia – has just been published. It is a joint publication by the Jesuit publisher of historical studies in Rome, Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu, and the Macau Ricci Institute. The book presents a lively account by the German Jesuit Kilian Stumpf written during the Papal Legation to China between 1705 and 1710. From his privileged position in Beijing, with local knowledge as director of the imperial glassworks for the Chinese Emperor Kangxi, and his service to the Legation and the Jesuits, Kilian Stumpf keenly observed this important moment in European–Chinese interaction. In these pages, we encounter the question of Chinese rituals for ancestors and Confucius, famously known as the Chinese rites controversy: we discover how the Legation’s negative views contributed to the transformation of Chinese Catholicism, confirming the decision that many local practices were incompatible with Christian teachings and worship; we may observe, too, the vilification of the Jesuits that culminated in their suppression by 1773. The detailed view of events and key documents sent to Rome that constitute the Acta Pekinensia provide a precious record of these contacts and conflicts in China at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The text has been transcribed, translated and annotated for the first time in English in this handsomely-presented volume, with accompanying CD-Rom (containing scans of the original folios and Latin transcriptions of the text); it is edited by Paul Rule and Claudia von Collani.