The introduction of Christianity into China has been ascribed not only to the Apostle of India, St. Thomas, but also to St. Bartholomew. In the third century, Arnobius, in "Adversus Gentes", speaks of the Seres, with the Persians and the Medes, as among the nations reached by "that new power which has arisen from the works done by the Lord and his Apostles". Though there is evidence that Christianity existed in Mesopotamia and Persia during the fourth century, as evidenced by the persecutions which began in 345 under Sapor (309-379), there is no proof that it spread to China. After the condemnation of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, at the Council of Ephesus (431) and his banishment, his disciples spread his errors through Asia. They seemed to have reached China in the seventh century, according to the Si-ngan-fu inscription. In should be added that, according to Ebedjesus, some thought that Archæus, Archbishop of Selucia, had created a metropolitan see in China in 411, while others said that the metropolitans of China dated only from Saliba Zacha, patriarch of the Nestorians from 714 to 728. According to Pauthier, the T'ang Emperor, Hiuan T'sung issued in 745 an edict wherein it was stated that the temples of the religion from Ta Ta'in being known popularly as Persian temples, it was ordered that, this being inaccurate, thenceforth the latter name should be changed to Ta Ts'in temples.

 

Si-ngan-fu Inscription

 

In the year 1625 the Jesuits in Peking were informed that a slab referring to the Christian religion had been found not long before, possibly in 1623, at Ch'ang-ngan (Si-ngan-fu). Father Nicolas Trigault was sent to inspect the stone, which had been discovered at Cheu-che, some distance from Ch'ang-ngan. It was one of the monuments called by the Chinese antiquaries pei. The French traveller, Grenard, who visited Si-ngan-fu a few years ago gives the following measurements: height, 7 ft., 9 ins., width 2 ft. 9 ins., thickness 10 ins. At the top a cross is incised, under which nine large characters in three columns for the heading, which reads as follows: Monument commemorating the introduction and propagation of the noble law of Ta T'sin in the Middle Kingdom. According to the text of the inscription, Olopen arrived from Ta T'sin at Ch'ang-ngan in the ninth year of the period Chang-kwan (635); Emperor T'ai Tsung sent his minster, Duke Fang Huan-ling, to receive him and conduct him to the palace; the Scriptures were translated, and the Emperor, becoming convinced of the correctness and truth of Olopen's religion, gave special orders for its propagation, and in the seventh month of the twelfth year of Chang-kwan (638), in the autumn, issued a proclamation: a Ta T'sin monastery was built, etc. The conclusion of the inscription runs as follows: Erected in the second year of the period Kien-chung (781) of the great T'ang dynasty, the year star being in Tso-yo, on the seventh day of the first month, being Sunday. The inscription consists of 1780 characters; in addition to the Chinese characters, at the foot and on the sides, the stele also exhibits a series of data in the Syriac language, in Estrangelo characters. Sir Henry Yule (Marco Polo, II, 27) thinks that Olopen is only a Chinese form of rabban, a monk, while Prof. Hirth makes Olopen stand for Ruben, or Rupen. It appears from a paper by J. Takakusu (Ts'ung-pao, VII, 589-591) that Adam (King-tsing) who erected the monument under Te-tsung, under the same emperor, translated, with a Buddhist, a Buddhist Sûtrç, the "Satpâramitâ", from a Hu text.

 

The question of the authenticity of the inscription has been formerly often raised, but to-day no one can doubt the genuineness of this most important document for the history of the propagation of the Faith in the Far East; we fully agree with A. Wylie, who writes: If the Nestorian tablet can be proved a forgery, there are few existing memorials of bygone dynasties which can withstand the same type of arguments. This inscription is generally considered as emanating from Nestorians; but this is supported only by circumstantial evidence, for it must be remarked that nothing in it is characteristic of Nestorianism.

 

Nestorians

 

The Nestorians were successful in converting the Keraits to Christianity at the beginning of the eleventh century, as related by the Christian historian, Bar Hebræus. The Keraits remained Christians till the time of Jenghiz Khan, as is attested by Rashiduddin; Their head is spoken of by Rubruck and Marco Polo as Ung Khan (Wang Khan), identified with Prester John; when Wang Khan was defeated by Jenghiz, his niece, Sorhabyani, married Tuli, the fourth son of the conqueror, and became the mother of Kublai. When Kublai removed his capital to Peking, he founded in 1280 the chief Christian consistory, under the name of Ch'ung-fu-tze; the priests of the Nestorian sect were known as Erkeun (Ye-li Ko-wen). but this term was later applied to Christians in general, who were called by the Mohammedans Tersa (transcribed Tie-sie). The last name, however, disappeared with the removal of the capital to Peking. Mar Sergius, a Nestorian, and other Christians are mentioned in a description of Chin-kiang-fu. The Nestorians had a number of bishoprics throughout Asia and two archbishoprics, one at Cambalue (Peking), one at Tangut (Tanchet); there is even a record of a Chinese Nestorian, Mar Jabalaha (b. 1245), a pupil of another Nestorian, Rabban Sauma (b. in Peking), being appointed Patriarch of Persia when Denha died, though he was unacquainted with the Syriac tongue. This is a proof of the influence of the Mongols of China. Buddhism, however, prevailed at court, and two of the Nestorian churches were converted to heathen temples. The prosperity of the Nestorians in China continued through the Mongol period. We may judge their numbers and influence by the fact that friar Oderic, about 1324, found three Nestorian churches in the city of Yang-chou, but soon afterwards they fell into decay. Evidence of their existence was found by the Jesuits at the beginning of the seventeenth century.

 

Medieval Catholic Missions

 

The great religious crusade in Asia during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries dates from the Council of Lyons held in 1245 by Pope Innocent IV. The interests of Christendom were threatened by the Mongolian conquest, and it became necessary to send ambassadors to the Tatar chief to find out his intentions. Two mendicant orders, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, who had been instituted at the beginning of the thirteenth century, were ready to furnish the agents for the mission. John of Plano Carpini, a Franciscan, accompanied by Friar Stephen of Bohemia, left Lyons on 16 April, 1245, and was joined at Breslau by Friar Benedict, a Pole. They went by way of Moscow and Kieff, and in February, 1246, reached the camp of Batu, grandson of Jenghiz, on the Volga; thence they went to Karakorum to the to the court of Kuyuk Khan. On 13 November they began their return voyage with the Mongol chief's reply to the papal letter and reached Avignon in 1247. As a reward, Carpini was appointed Archbishop of Antivari. Four Dominican friars, Anselm of Lombardy, Simon of Saint-Quentin, Alberic, and Alexander, joined at Toflis by Andrew of Longjumeau and Guichard of Cremona, were sent on a mission to the Mongol general, Baïju, in Persia, but were received badly, and dismissed on 25 July, 1245, with a haughty letter for the pope. St. Louis, King of France, sent the Franciscan, William of Rubruck (known as Rubruquis), to the court of Mangu Khan, successor of Kuyuk; he returned to his convent at Acre (1255), were he wrote an account of his voyage. Speaking of Carpini and Rubruck, Yule says (Cathay, I, p. CXXIII): These were the first, so far as I know, to bring to western Europe the revived knowledge of a great and civilized nation lying in the extreme east upon the shores of the ocean. To this kingdom they gave the name, now first heard in Europe, of Cathay. Though the first missionaries went sent to the court of Kublai by Nicholas III (1277-80), the real founder of the mission of Cambalue was John of Montecorvino, a Franciscan friar (b. at Salerno, 1247), sent by Nicholas IV. Giovanni probably reached the Mongol capital before the death of the Great Khan. In 1307 Clement V sent seven friars having the rank of bishop, who were to consecrate Montecorvino as Archbishop of Cambalue and Primate of the Far East; only Andrew of Perugia, Gerard, and Peregrinus reached China in 1308 and consecrated Montecorvino; a bishopric was erected at Zaitun in Fu-kien, which was occupied in turn by Gerard (d. 1313), Peregrinus (d. 1322), and Andrew of Perugia; Montecorvino died in 1333 and was succeeded by Nicholas, a Paris theologian, who arrived in China with twenty-six friars and six lay brothers. A mission was also created at Ili-baluc in Central Asia with Richard of Burgundy as its bishop, but it was destroyed. In 1362 the fifth bishop of Zaitun, James of Florence, was massacred. In 1370, William of Prato, professor of the University of Paris, was appointed to the See of Peking. An apostolic legate, Francisco di Podio, with twelve companions, was sent out in 1371, but they were never heard from; all the Christian missions disappeared in the turmoil which followed the fall of the Mongols and the accession of the Ming dynasty (1368).

 

Modern Missions

 

If the Dominican friar, Gaspar da Cruz, was actually the first modern missionary to China, where, however, he stayed but a short time, the Jesuits under Matteo Ricci were the first to give a solid basis to the missions in the Celestial Empire. They spread through the Kwang-tung province to the central provinces, Nan-king, Shanghai, Hang-chou, endeavoring to reach Peking. In 1602 the Jesuit, Benedict de Goæs, started from Agra in an attempt to reach Peking by land. He arrived at the frontier town of Su-chou, where he died, 18 March, 1606, from the fatigue of his long journey. The Jesuits soon found eager competitors in the Dominicans and the Franciscans, who arrived in 1633, but where expelled from China four years later.

 

In August, 1635, Li, Prefect of Kiang-chou, issued a proclamation which was in reality an apology for the Christian religion, praising Kao (Father Alfonso Vagnoni, b. in the Diocese of Turin, 1566; d. at Kiang-chou, 19 April, 1640). In July, 1641, Tsuo, Sub-prefect of Kien-ning-hien in Fu-kien mentions Aleni as a master eminent among the learned men of the West, and speaks in high terms of the Christian religion. The conquest of China by the Manchus (1644) was a cause of great suffering to the Church. The celebrated Jesuit, Johann Adam Schall von Bell, head of the Board of Mathematics, was thrown into prison, but he soon regained favor under the first Manchu emperor, Shun-che. In 1664, during the minority of K'ang-hi, Yang Kwei-sien, a Mohammedan astronomer, in charge of the Board of Mathematics, accused Schall, then old and paralyzed, of hostility to Chinese traditions, and obtained against him a sentence of death (15 April, 1665), which was not carried out; when K'ang-hi took the power in hand, the errors of Yang were discovered, thanks to the Belgian Father, Ferdinand Verbiest, who was appointed in Yang's place head of the Board of Mathematics. It was Verbiest and not Schall who cast the astronomical instruments of the Peking observatory, some of which date from the Mongol period. The arrival of the priests of the Missions Etrangères of Paris and of the the French Jesuits sent by Louis XIV to Peking gave a new emphasis to the Christian missions.

 

In March, 1692, Ku Pa-tai, President of the Board of Rites and some of his colleagues addressed to the emperor a note to the effect that as the Europeans were not guilty of any breach of the law, it seemed unfair to prohibit their religion; that it would be proper therefore to let churches subsist and to allow persons bearing perfumes and other offerings freedom to enter them. An imperial decree approved of this note, and copies were sent to all the provincial governors. The Jesuits, as astronomers or interpreters, were in high favor at court and the question of rites which was disadvantageous to other missionaries, did not impair their credit during the reign of K'ang-hi. Matters were different under Yung Cheng, son and successor of K'ang-hi, who in 1724 issued an edict exiling to Canton all missionaries except those occupying various offices at Court; in 1736, an edict of K'ien Lung, son and successor of Yung Cheng, prohibited the teaching of Christian doctrine under penalty of death. On 25 June, 1746, a cruel persecution broke out in Fu-kien, during which the vicar Apostolic, Bishop Sanz, and four other Spanish Dominicans, Serrano, Alcobar, Royo, and Diaz were martyred. The Jesuits Attimis and Henriquez were put to death at Su-chou on 12 Sept., 1748. A great change was made in the Christian Church at Peking, the Jesuits being replaced by the Lazarists.

 

During the Kia K'ing period (1796-1820), persecution was very severe. A decree was issued 4 Sept., 1811, prescribing a search for foreign preachers. There were but seven Europeans residing at Court, Ferreira (Fu Wen-kao); Riberio (Li Hung-chen); Serra (Kao Shéu-kien), all Portuguese Lazarists in charge of the observatory; Nan Mi-te, interpreter of the Privy Council; Cajetan Pires (Pei Ho-yuan), a mathematician, and two other missionaries too old to be sent home. Monsignor Dufresse, Bishop of Tabraca and vicar Apostolic of Sze-ch'wan, was beheaded 14 Sept., 1825; Father Clet, a French Lazarist. was strangled at Wu-ch'ang (Hu-pe), 18 Feb., 1820. On Sept. 11, 1840, Father Jean-Gabriel Perboyre, a Lazarist, was martyred at Wu-ch'ang. Brighter days were looked for after the signing of a treaty at Wham-poa (1844) by the French ambassador, Théodose de Lagrené, expectations which were fulfilled after the Peking convention of 1860.

 

In an edict of 20 Feb., 1846, Tao-kwang ordered that the establishments belonging formerly to Christians be restored to their owners, and that henceforward officers searching for and arresting harmless Christians should be tried. The edict was not sent to all the governors, and the same year the missionaries, Hue and Gabet, were arrested at Lhassa and the Franciscan Father Navarro in Hu-pe, and all were taken under escort to Canton and Macao; it was not till the war of 1860 that the churches of Peking were surrendered to Bishop Mouly. The murder of Auguste Chapdelaine (Missions Etrangères de Paris) at Si-lin-hien, in Kwang-si on 29 Feb., 1856, was the pretext chosen by France to join England in a military action against China. Special privileges were awarded to missions by Art. XIII of the French treaty of T'ien-tsin (1858) and Art. VI of the French Peking Convention (1860). The old churches of the capital were restored to the Lazarists, and passports for inland travel or sojourn issued to twenty-eight missionaries. Korea, already ill-famed on account of the massacre of Monsignor Imbert and Fathers Chastan and Maubant on 21 Sept., 1839, was the scene of a terrible persecution in 1866; Bishop Berneux, with Fathers de Bretenières, Beaulieu, and Dorie (8 March), Pourthié and Petitnicolas (11 March), the coadjutor Bishop Daveluy, and Fathers Aumaætre (30 March) were all decapitated. Of the flourishing establishment of the Missions Etrangères de Paris, there were only Fathers Ridel, later on vicar Apostolic, Féron, and Calais. This led to an intervention of France in Korea which did not, however, achieve any great degree of success. Things were going from bad to worse in China. In Kwang-tung Fathers Verchère (1867), Dejean (1868), Delavay (1868), were persecuted; in Sze-ch'wan, Fathers Mabileau (29 Aug., 1865) and Rigaud (2 Jan., 1869) were murdered at Yeu-yang-chou, near Kwei-chou, and Fathers Gilles and Lebrun were ill-treated (1869-70); anti-foreign placards were posted up in Hu-nan (1869); the French minister, Count de Rochechouart, was nearly murdered at T'ai-yuan, in the Shan-si province (1869). Finally came the massacre of T'ien-tsin, 21 June, 1870. Fontanier. The French consul, Simon, his chancellor, Thomassin, the interpreter and his wife, the Lazarist father Chevier and the Cantonese priest Hu, Challemaison, a merchant and his wife, ten sisters of St. Vincent of Paul, Bassoff and Protopopoff, Russian merchants, and the wife of the latter--in all twenty-two persons were put to death with great barbarity.

 

The Franco-Prussian War prevented France from taking any energetic action in China, but a special mission, headed by the High Commissioner, Ch'ung Hou, was sent to Paris to apologize. The lack of retaliation on the part of France encouraged Prince Kung to send the foreign ministers at Peking (1871) a memorandum relating to missions and regulations to be applied to Christian missionaries. This circular note met with a protest, not only from the French Minister Rochechouart (14 Nov. 1871), but also from Mr. Wade, British Minister. The murder of the German missionaries, Nies and Henle (1 Nov., 1897), in the Shang-tung province, led to the occupation of Kiao-chou by the Germans. On 14 Oct., 1898, Chanès was murdered at Pak-tung (Kwang-tung); Victorin Delbrouck, a Belgian, was killed in Hu-pe (11 Dec., 1898); satisfaction was given by the Chinese for these crimes, which had been perpetrated in the face of two imperial decrees that same year, dated 12 July and 6 October. The Boxer rebellion brought sad days for the missions. The list of martyrs is lengthy. The following bishops were put to death: Fatosati of Northern Hu-nan, Grassi and Fogolla of Shan-si, Italian Franciscans; Guillon, Missions Etrangères of Manchuria, Hamer (Dutch) of Kan-su (burnt to death), and the Franciscans, Ceseda and Joseph (Hu-nan); Facchini, Saccani, Balat, and Egide (Shan-si); Ebert (Hu-pe); the Jesuits, Andlauer, Isoré, Denn, and Mangin (Chi-li); the Lazarists d'Addosio, Garrigues, Doré, Chavanne (Peking); Emonet, Viaud, Agnius, Bayart, Bourgeois, Leray, le Guéval, Georjon, Souvignet, of Manchuria, all of the Missions Etrangères de Paris; Segers, Heirman, Mallet, Jaspers, Zylmans, Abbeloos, Dobbe, of Mongolia, all of the Congregation of Scheut.

 

Mention should be made of the fact that in 1895, the French Minister Gérard made an agreement with the Tsung-li Yamen that all passages in the official code disadvantageous to the Christian religion should be erased. The Berthemy Convention, finally settled by M. Gérard (spoken of below), and the reorganization of the protectorates and the hierarchy, treated of hereafter, are the chief events of the last few years.

 

THE QUESTION OF RITES

 

Father Ricci, the first superior of the Jesuits in China, had remarkable success in his work of evangelizing because of the great tolerance he showed the cult rendered by the Chinese to Heaven, to Confucius, and to ancestors. Indeed, mandarins being obliged to honor officially Heaven and Confucius on certain days, it would have been difficult to convert any of them if they had not been allowed to carry out the functions of their office. Ancestor worship is, practically, the principal religion of China. Ricci's successor, Longobardi, was of a different mind and finally in 1628, when Emmanuel Diaz (Junior) was vice-provincial, a meeting was called to study the question, but no decision was reached. Affairs reached a crisis when the Dominican, Moralez, and the Franciscan, Santa Maria, arrived in China (1633). Excess of zeal, ignorance of local customs, or some such reason was the cause of the expulsion of the Dominicans and Franciscans (1637). In addition to different views about the religion of the Chinese, there was another cause of discord between the Jesuits and the Dominicans. The former were protected by Portugal and their protectors were at Macao. The latter were Spaniards, and they looked for support to Manila. In 1639, Moralez addressed to Diaz Senior, then Visitor of the Jesuit mission, a memorandum in twelve articles regarding Chinese practices. Diaz having delayed his answer, Moralez went to Rome, and on 12 Sept., 1645, obtained from Innocent X a decree condemning the Jesuits. The Jesuits thereupon dispatched to Rome Martin Martini, who after a stormy voyage was carried to the Norwegian coast, and was obliged to cross Holland and Germany to Italy. He succeeded in having a contradictory decree issued by Alexander VII (23 March, 1656). Then followed a new memorandum of Moralez to the Sacred Congregation (1661), and a new decree of Clement IX against the Jesuits (20 Nov., 1669). Moralez died (1664) but his successor as prefect of the Dominicans in China, Domingo Fernandez Navarrette, published his "Tratados historicos"; the Dominicans, however, found an adversary among themselves. The Chinese Dominican, Gregorio Lopez, Bishop of Basilea and vicar Apostolic of Nan-king, sent to the Sacred Congregation a memoir in favour of the Jesuits.

 

New elements were brought into the discussion when French Jesuits and priests of the Missions Etrangères arrived in China. The publication in Paris, in 1682, of a work entitled "La Morale pratique des Jésuites", a bitter criticism of the Jesuits, acted as a firebrand. Père le Tellier answered with "Défense des Nouveaux Chrétiens" (1687), which was later censured at Rome (23 May, 1694). On 26 March, 1693, Charles Maigrot, of the Missions Etrangères, vicar Apostolic of Fu-kien, and later titular bishop of Conon, issued a mandate condemning the Chinese Rites. Following the example of the Dominicans, the Missions Etrangères sent to Rome Louis de Quemener, who presented the pope with Maigrot's mandate (1696). Nicolas Charmot, Maigrot's envoy, obtained a brief from Innocent XII (15 Jan., 1697) and a decree from the Holy Office (3 July, 1697). The works of Jesuit Father Comte. "Mémoires sur la Chine" and "Lettre ê Mgr le Due du Maine sur les cérémonies de la Chine", added fuel to the flame and were censured by the Faculty of Theology of Paris (18 Oct., 1700), together with the "Hist. de l'edit de l'Empereur de la Chine" by Père Le Gobin, S. J. Finally, the Holy Office published a decree prohibiting the Chinese ceremonies (20 Nov., 1704). This was approved by Clement XI who appointed as legatus a latere Charles Thomas de Tournon, Patriarch of Antioch, to carry the decree to China. Tournon arrived at Canton 8 April and was received at Peking by the Emperor K'ang-hi, who was favorable to the Jesuits (31 Dec., 1705). After various controversies in which Maigrot and the Jesuit Visdelou sided with the legate, K'ang-hi, who found the Jesuits better informed about China than their adversaries, ordered Tournon to leave Peking (28 Aug., 1705) and banished Maigrot (17 Dec., 1705). Tournon issued a mandate at Nan-king (25 Jan., 1707). When he arrived at Macao he was thrown into a prison where he died (8 June 1710) immediately after being named a cardinal. On 19 March, 1715, Clement XI issued the Bull "Ex illâ die". A new legate, Mezzabarba, Patriarch of Alexandria, was sent to China. He arrived at Macao (26 Sept., 1720), went to Peking and was received by the emperor, who refused to accede to his demands. Finally, the whole knotty question was settled (11 July, 1742) by a Bull of Benedict XIV, "Ex quo singulari" condemning the Chinese ceremonies and choosing the expression T'ien-chu which was to be used exclusively to designate God. Missionaries to China had to take an oath not to discuss at any time the terms of the Bull. The bitterness of this celebrated quarrel was greatly increased by various causes: the rivalry of Portugal and France for the protectorate of the missions, the disputes between the Jansenists and the Jesuits, and the Bull "Unigenitus"; while the final decision was delayed as much by the question of episcopal sees in China as the rites themselves. Rome having spoken, no more can be said here on the question, but it may be noted that the Bull "Ex quo singulari" was a terrible blow to the missions in China; there are fewer Christians than formerly and none among the higher classes, as were the princes and mandarins of the court of K'ang-hi.

 

CREATION OF VICARIATES APOSTOLIC

 

In 1577 Gregory XIII created for China, Japan, and the Far Eastern Islands, the Diocese of Macao, which was divided in 1587 into two diocese, Macao and Funay (Japan). On 9 Sept., 1659, Alexander VII erected from the territory included within the Diocese of Macao, two vicariates Apostolic, one including besides Tong-king the Chinese provinces of Yun-nan, Kwei-chou, Hu-kwang (now Hu-pe and Hu-nan), Sze-ch'wan, Kwang-si, and Laos, the other including, in addition to Cochin-China, the Chinese provinces of Che-kiang, Fu-kien, Kwang-tung, Kiang-si, and the island of Hai-nan. In 1690, Alexander VIII, to satisfy the Portuguese, created the Diocese of Peking, including Chi-li, Shang-tung, Shan-si, Shen-si, Ho-nan, Lao-tung, Korea, and Tatary, and the Diocese of Nan-king, both diocese being under the Archbishop of Goa. By a Bull of 15 Oct, 1696, Innocent XII erected the vicariates Apostolic of Shen-si and Shan-si by taking part of the territory included in the Diocese of Peking (Chi-li, Shang-tung, Lao-tung, Korea, and Tatary), and limited the Diocese of Nan-king to Kiang-nan and Ho-nan. The following vicariates were created out of the Diocese of Nan-king (1696): Hu-kwang, Fu-kien, Che-kiang, Kiang-si, Yun-nan, Sze-ch'wan, Kwai-chou; in 1737, these last two provinces were joined into one vicariate, to which Yu-nan was added in 1781. In 1840, Yun-nan was again detached, and in 1846 Kwei-chou became independent. In 1858 Sze-ch'wan was subdivided into Eastern and Western Sze-ch'wan. In 1860, Eastern Sze-ch'wan, with part of Western Sze-ch'wan, was divided into the vicariates Apostolic of Southern Sze-ch'wan and Eastern Sze-ch'wan. In 1790, Fu-kien, Che-kiang, and Kiang-se were combined into one vicariate, but in 1838 divided into the vicariates of Fu-kien and Che-kiang Kiang-se. In 1883, Amoy was separated from Fu-kien; in 1846 Kiang-se was separated from Che-kiang; in 1879 the vicariates of Northern and Southern Kiang-se were erected; in 1885 the vicariate of Eastern Kiang-se was created. In 1762, Hu-kwang was amalgamated with Shan-si and Shen-si but separated in 1838. Out of Hu-kwang were formed in 1856 the vicariates of Hu-nan and Hu-pe; in 1879 Hu-nan was divided into the vicariates of Northern and Southern Hu-nan; in 1876, Hu-pe was divided into Eastern, Western, and Northern Hu-pe. In 1843 Shen-si and Shan-si were separated; in 1885 Shen-si was divided into two vicariates, and in 1890 Shan-si was divided in a similar manner.

 

From the Diocese of Peking, Korea was detached in 1831, Liao-tung, Manchuria, etc. in 1838, and Shang-tung in 1839; in 1856 the Diocese of Peking was divided into three vicariates: Northern, South-Western, and South-Eastern Chi-li; from the last-named, eastern Chi-li was separated in 1899. In 1883, Shan-tung was divided into Northern and Southern Shan-tung; Eastern Shan-tung was detached in 1894. In 1840 the vicariates of Mongolia and Kang-su were separated from Manchuria and later sub-divided; in 1843, Hong-Kong was taken from Macao; at first a prefecture, it was erected into a vicariate in 1874; the two provinces of Kwang-tung and Kwang-si were detached from Macao in 1856 and formed into a prefecture, but were erected into separate prefectures in 1878. In 1856 Ho-nan was divided from the Diocese of Nan-king, and was erected into a vicariate which was later subdivided.

 

RELIGIOUS ORDERS

 

The Society of Jesus

 

The Jesuits are the true founders of the missions in China. St. Francis Xavier, after evangelizing India and Japan, died in December, 1552, on the island of Shang-ch'wan (St. John's) before he could reach Macao or Canton. His successors, Alessandro Valignani (d. 20 Jan., 1606), Michele Ruggierei (d. 11 May, 1607), and Francisco Pasio (d. 30 Aug., 1612) did not penetrate beyond these two places and Chao-k'ing in the same province. Matteo Ricci had the honor of being the pioneer missionary at Peking; he was born at Macerata, Italy, 6 Oct., 1552, and arrived at Macao in 1583, meeting there with Ruggieri. From Chou-k'ing Father Ricci went to Nan-ch'ang (1595); he visited Peking twice (1595 and 1598) where he finally settled, leaving Nan-king for the last time 18 May, 1600. He left behind him Lazzaro Cattaneo and Joïo da Rocha, who in 1603 baptized, under the name of Paul, the celebrated Siu kwang-k'i. The latter on going to Peking showed himself a stanch supporter of Ricci, who died 11 May, 1610. Ricci was the first superior of the Peking mission. His two successors, Nicolò Longobardi (1610) and Joïo do Rocha (1622) held the same office; Emmanuel Diaz (Junior) was the first vice-provincial. Ricci, under the Chinese name of Li Ma-teu, wrote many works still appreciated by the Chinese, among them "T'ien-chu Shi-yi" (the true doctrine of God), published in 1601, translated into Manchu, Korean, Japanese, and French; "Ki-ho Yuan-pun", the first six books of Euclid, etc. The following are the names of some of the best-known members of this mission: Emmanuel Diaz Junior (Yang Ma-no), b. in Portugal, 1574; arrived in China, 1610; d. at Hang-chou, 4 March, 1659; author of "T'ang-king kiao-pei-sung-cheng-ts'iuen", a translation of the celebrated inscription of Si-ngan-fu. Nicolas Trigault (Kiu Ni-ko), b. at Douai, 3 March, 1577; arrived in China, 1610; d. at Hang-chou, 14 Nov., 1628; author of the life of Ricci (De Christianç Expeditione apud Sinas, 1615), a dictionary (Si-ju-eul-mu-tze), and a translation of Æsop's Fables (Hwang-yi). Giulio Aleni (Ngai Ju-lio), b. at Brescia, 1582; arrived in China, 1613; d. at Fu-chou, 3 Aug., 1649; author of no less than twenty-five works in Chinese, including a life of Christ. Johann Adam Schall von Bell (T'ang Jo-wang), b. at Cologne, 1591; arrived in China, 1622; d. at Peking, 15 Aug. 1666; a celebrated mathematician. Luigi Buglio (Li Lei-sse), b. at Minco (Sicily) 26 Jan., 1606; arrived at China, 1637; d. at Peking, 7 Oct., 1682; author of twenty-one works in Chinese, of which a "Missale romanum" (Mi-sa King-tien, 1670), a "Breviarium romanum" (Ji-k'o kai-yao, 1674), a "Manuale ad Sacramenta ministranda" (Sheng-sse-li-tien, 1675), still remain. Gabriel de Magalhaens (Ngan Wen-see), b. at Pedrogïo, 1611; arrived in China, 1640; d. at Peking, 6 May, 1677; author of a good description of China which was translated into English (1688). Martino Martini (Wei Kwang-kwo), b. at Trent, 1614; arrived in China, 1643; d. at Hang-chou, 6 June, 1661; who published in 1655 the first good atlas of China. Ignaco da Costa (Kouo Na-tsio), b. at Fayal, Azores, 1599; arrived in China, 1634; d. at Canton, May, 1666; the translator, with Intorcetta, of the "Lun-yu" and "Ta-hio" of Confucius (1662). Prospero Intocetta (In To-che), b. at Piazza, Sicily, 28 August, 1628; arrived in China, 1659; d. at Hang-chou, 3 Oct. 1696. Phillippe Couplet (pe Ing-li), b. at Mechlin, 31 May 1622; arrived in China, 1659; died at sea, 16 May, 1693; he made known to Europeans the works of Confucius (1672). Albert Dorville and Johann Gtüber, who visited Tibet. Ferdinand Verbiest (Nan Hwai-jen); b. at Pitthem, 9 Oct., 1623; arrived at China, 1659; d. at Peking, 29 Jan., 1688; a great astronomer, who cast some of the instruments of the Peking observatory and guns for the war against the Eleuths. Franïois Noæl (Wei Fang-tsi), b. at Hesdrud (Hainault), 18 Aug., 1651; arrived in China in 1687; d. at Lille, Sept., 1729; astronomer and translator of the Confucian classics. Ignaz Kögler (Tai Tsin-hien), b. at Landsberg, 11 May, 1680; arrived in China, 30 Aug.,1716; d. at Peking, 29 March, 1746. Augustin von Hallerstein, b. at Laibach, 2 Aug., 1703; arrived in China in 1738; d. 29 October, 1774. The last two named were mathematicians.

 

Most of the Jesuits of this mission were Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Swiss, or Belgian; but few were French. In 1685, however, Louis XIV, king of France, sent six French Jesuits to the Far East: Guy Tachard remained in Siam, but Jean de Fontaney, Joachim Bouvet, Louis de Comte, Jean-Franïois Gerbillion and Claude de Visdelou, who reached China 23 July, 1687, laid the foundation of the celebrated French Peking mission, which lasted till the suppression of the Society.

 

Their mission under the protectorate of the French king was distinct from the mission of the other Jesuits, who were known in a general manner as "Portuguese", to distinguish them from their French brethren. the superiors of the French mission were: Jean de Fontaney (1687), Gerbillion (1699), Dentrecolles (1706), Julien-Placide Hervieu (1719), Joseph Labbe (1736), Hervieu, a second time (1740), Valentin Châlier (1745), Jean Sylvain de Neuvialle (1747), Louis-Marie Du Gad (1752), Neuvialle, a second time (1757), Joseph-Louis Le Febrve (1762), John-Baptiste de la Roche (1769), and Franïois Bourgeois.

 

The following are the names of the most remarkable among the French Jesuits:

 

Jean-Franïois Gerbillion (Chang Ch'eng), b. at Verdun, 21 Jan., 1654; arrived at China, 1687; died at Peking, 22 March 1707. Having been superior of the house at Peking he was appointed, 3 Nov., 1700, superior of all the French Jesuits in China. He was the interpreter for the treaty signed with Russia at Nerchinsk in 1689, and the author of a Manchu grammar.

Claude de Visdelou (Liu-in), b. 12 Aug., 1656, in Brittany; d. at Pondicherry, 11 Nov. 1737. He arrived in China in 1687. He left the Society, was appointed vicar Apostolic of Kwei-chou and Bishop of Claudiopolis (12 Feb., 1707). His very valuable "Historie de la Tartarie" was published as an appendix to B. d'Herbelot's "Bibliothèque orientale" (1780).

Joachim Bouvet (Pe-tain), b. at Man, 18 July, 1656; arrived in China, 1687; d. at Peking, 28 June, 1730; a man of great activity.

Franïois-Xavier Detrecolles (in Hong-siu), b. at Lyons, 5 Feb. 1663; arrived in China, 1698; d. 2 July, 1741; authors of various papers of scientific value.

Joseph-Marie de Prémare (Ma Jo-shi), b. at Hâvre-de-Grâce, 17 July, 1666; arrived in China, 1698; died at Macao, 17 Sept., 1736; author of the well-known "Notitia Linguæ Sinicæ", published at Malacca in 1831 at the expense of Lord Kingsborough.

Dominique Parrenin (Pa-To-ming), b. at Russey, 14 Sept., 1665; arrived in China in 1698; d. at Peking, 29 Sept., 1741; a learned and influential man, author of the Chinese lives of St. Aloysius Gonzaga (Tsi-mei-pien) and St. Stanislaus Kostka (Te-hing-p'u).

Antoine Gaubil (Sun-kiun-yung), b. at Gaillac, 14 July, 1689; arrived in China in 1722; died at Peking, 24 July, 1759; remarkable as astronomer, historian, and geographer.

Pierre d'Incarville (T'ang), b. 21 Aug., 1706; arrived in China, 1740; d. at Peking, 12 May, 1757; well known as a botanist.

Jose-Marie-Anne de Moyria de Mailla (Fung Pin-cheng), b. at Moirans (Isère), 16 Dec., 1669; arrived in China, in 1703; died at Peking, 28 June, 1748; translator into French of the huge Chinese historical work "T'ung-kien-kang-mu" (ed. Grossier, 13 vols. 4to, Paris, 1777-1785).

Jean-Joseph-Marie Amiot (tsien Teh-ming), b. at Toulon, 1718; arrived in China in 1750; d. at Peking, 9 Oct., 1793; the most active contributor to the "Mémoires concernant les Chinois" and a regular correspondent of the French Minister Bertin.

Numerous and important works were compiled or written by these hard-working missionaries. Among these are: (1) Maps of China. This labour was undertaken by order of the Emperor K'ang-hi and executed between 1708 and 1718, under the direction of Father Jartoux, by Bouvet, Cardoso, Bonjour (Augustinian), Mailla, Hinderer, de Tartre, and especially Fridelli and Régis. They were the basis of d'Anville's celebrated maps issued between 1729 and 1734. (2) "Déscription geographique de la Chine" by J. B. Du Halde (Paris, 1735), compiled from materials sent by twenty-seven missionaries in China. (3) "Lettres édifiantes et curieuses", a collection of letters from missionaries in all parts of the world, begun in 1702 by Charles Le Gobien, and after his death by Du Halde, Patouillet, and Maréchal (34 vols., 1703-76). This work was reprinted in 1780-83 by Yves-Mathurin-Marie de Querbeuf. There have been numerous editions and translations since. (4) "Memoires concernant l'histoire, les sciences . . . des Chinois" (Paris, 1776-1814), containing a mass of information sent mainly by Amiot and Cibot, and edited by Brotier, Bréquigney, and others; the last volume, containing the end of the history of the T'ang dynasty, was edited by Sylvestre de Sacy. (5) Sixteen plates drawn by order of Emperor K'ien-lung to commemorate his conquests in Central Asia. The artists at Peking were Jean-Denis Attiret (d. 8 Dec., 1768), Jean Damascène, Giuseppe Castiglioni, Ignaz Sichelbarth, all Jesuits except Damascène, an Augustinian. The plates were engraved at Paris under the direction of C, N, Cochin. Besides Attiret there was another Jesuit painter at the imperial court, Giuseppe Panzi (b. at Cremons, 2 May, 1734).

The Jesuits had four churches at Peking. The Northern or French church (Pe-t'ang), the Southern or Portuguese church (Nun-t'ang), the Western church (Si-t'ang), and the Eastern church (Tung-t'ang), the old house of Adam Schall. The two beautiful cemeteries of the Jesuits outside the walls of Peking, one Portuguese (Sha-la-eul or Téng-kong-che-lan), the other French (Ch'eng-fu-sse), were destroyed by the Boxers in 1900. The Jesuits had residences in the provinces of Chi-li, Shan-si, Shen-si, Shan-tung, Ho-nan, Sze-ch'wan, Hu-kwang, Kiang-si, Kiang-nan, Che-kiang, Fu-kien, Kwang-tung, and Kwang-si. The Jesuits, on their suppression in 1773, were replaced by the Lazarists. The Jesuit Archbishop of Nan-king, Xavier von Laimbeckhoven, an Austrian, died 22 May, 1787, near Su-chou. There were but few fathers at Peking when the news of the suppression of the Society reached the Chinese capital, Sept., 1774. Hallerstein and Benolt died of grief; the last member, Louis de Poirot, died before Oct., 1815.

 

In 1841, Luigi de Besi, Vicar Apostolic of Shan-tung and Ho-nan, was also placed temporarily in charge of the diocese of Nan-king. The work was too heavy for one man, and Monsignor de Besi wrote to the General of the Jesuits (18 Sept., 1841), asking that some missionaries be sent to help him as soon as possible. The Christians of Kiang-nan had already applied to the general, the Very Rev. Father Roothan (25 April, 1832) to the Queen of Portugal (1838), and to Pope Gregory XVI (1840). At last, two Jesuits, Claude Gotteland (b. in Savoy, 12 June, 1803; d. at Shanghai, 17 July, 1856), and Eugène-Martin-Franïois Estève (b. at Paris, 26 March, 1807; d. at Zi-ka-wei, 1 July, 1848), arrived at Shanghai, 12 June, 1842. Soon afterwards they were joined by Benjamin Brueyre (b. 20 May, 1810; d. at Hien-hien, 24 Feb., 1880), who had remained in the Chusan Islands, then held by the British. Monsignor de Besi then had as successor Monsignor Martesca (d. 1885), and Monsignor Spelta, transferred in 1856 to Hu-pe. The diocese was left in charge of the French Jesuit, André Borgniet (b. 14 Feb., 1811; d. 31 July, 1862, at Hien-hien), who was finally consecrated titular Bishop of Berisa and appointed vicar Apostolic, 2 October, 1859. The mission of K'iang-nan suffered much during the T'ai-p'ing rebellion, when Father Luigi Massa and Victor Wuillaume were massacred.

 

An important magnetic and meteorological observatory has been erected in the neighborhood of Shanghai, at the village of Zi-ka-wei, so called in the local dialect on account of the proximity of the tomb of the celebrated convert Paul Siu, under the direction of Father Augustin Colobel (1873-74), Henri Le Lee (1875-76), Marc Dechevrens (1877-87), Bernard Ooms (1888, 1891), Stanislas Chevalier (1889-97), Louis Froe (1888). Here are published valuable bulletins and memoirs which render the greatest service to navigators by forecasts of the weather, special study being made of typhoons. A yearly calendar full of useful data is also issued. An astronomical observatory was also established at Zo-se (Che-shan) in 1899 by Father Beaurepaire. Since 1901 annals have been published; in 1897-98, the director, Stanislas Chevalier, surveyed the Upper Yang-tze from I-ch'ang to P'ing-shan-hien and published a fine folio atlas of the great river, consisting of sixty-four sheets (1899). Under the direction of Pierre Heude (b. at Fougères, Brittany, 25 June, 1836; d. at Zi-ka-wei, 3 Jan., 1902) a museum of natural history was started, in connection with which were issued "Mémoires concernant l'historie naturelle de l'empirechinois" which are of great interest. Mention should also be made of the valuable series of monographs (twenty-five up to 1908) printed under the general heading "Variétés sinologiques"; in this work Henri Havret took the leading part after 1892. These monographs treat of various provinces, of examinations, of the Great Canal, of landed property, of the Jews, etc. It may be added that Fathers Couvreur, Debesse, and Petillion published good guides or dictionaries of the Chinese language, and Angelo Zottoli compiled the "Cursus Litterature sinicæ". The Jesuits of this mission belong to the province of France. Since 1903, a quarterly under the title "Relations du Chine" has been issued at the head-quarters in Paris.

 

In 1856 part of the Chi-li province was also entrusted to the care of the Jesuits, and Adrien Languillat (b. 28 Sept., 1808; d. at Zi-ka-wei, 29 Nov., 1878) was consecrated 22 March, 1857, Bishop of Sergiopolis, and was the first Vicar Apostolic of South-Eastern Chi-li. This mission suffered greatly during the Boxer Rebellion. Some of its members have distinguished themselves by their publications, e.g., Séraphin Couvreur (b. 14 Jan., 1856), who compiled large dictionaries and made translations of the Chinese classics; Leo Wieger (b. 9 July, 1856), author of "Rudiments de la langue chinoise". The Jesuits of this mission belong to the province of Champagne, the head-quarters being at Amiens. Since November, 1898, they have edited a periodical entitled "Chine, Ceylon, Madagascar".

 

Dominicans

 

The first missionary to arrive in China in modern times was the Portuguese Dominican, Gaspar da Cruz (1555), whose successors were expelled by the mandarins, the latters' fears having been aroused. Gaspar da Cruz wrote a book entitled "Tractado . . . da China" (1569). The Dominican mission was created in 1631 and 1633 in the Fu-kien province by Angelo Coqui and Thomas Serra. The well-known Dominican, Juan Bautista de Moralez (b. at Eeija, Spain, 1597; d. in Fu-kien, 17 Sept., 1664), who took an energetic part in the question of the Rites, arrived in 1637. In 1747, the Dominican Bishop Sanz, of Maurocastrum, was martyred with Fathers Alcobar, Royo, Diaz, and Bishops Francisco Serrano. Francisco Varo (Wan Tai-kwo), who arrived in China in 1654, published the "Arte de la Lengua mandarina" (Canton. 1703), which was the basis of Fourmont's "Grammatica Duplex". Beginning in 1866, the Dominicans printed for many years at Manila "El Correo Sino-Annamita", which embodied the letters from their missionaries in China, Formosa, and Tong-king. The Dominicans have but two vicariates in China: Fu-kien and Amoy (the latter embracing Formosa), the Phillipine Islands being the centre of their activity.

 

Franciscans

 

In 1579, Pedro d'Alfaro, guardian of the province of St. Joseph, in the Phillipine Islands, with Giovanni Battista of Pesaro, Sebastian de Baera (or of St. Francis), and Augustin de Tordesillas, made a stay of seven months in China, but the first Franciscan with a special mission to China was Antonio de Santa Maria (Li, b. at Baltanas, Palencia, Spain; died at Canton, 13 May, 1669), who was sent to China in May, 1633, and took an active part in their discussion over the Rites. Among the most remarkable of these friars should be mentioned Basilio Brollo, better known as Baile de Glenmona (Ye T'sung-hien, b. at Gemona, Italy, 25 March, 1648; d. in the Shen-si province, 13 August, 1703), who went to China in 1860, became Vicar Apostolic of Shen-si in 1700; compiler of the Chinese-Latin dictionary "Han-se-tze-yi", copied by De Guignes in his great work published in Paris in 1813, by order of Napoleon I. Also Carlo Orazio Castorano (eighteenth century), author of many works. Most of the Franciscans of China are Italian, though Eastern Shan-tung was made a separate vicariate Apostolic in 1894, for French Friars Minor.

 

Augustinians

 

In 1577, two Spanish Augustinians, Pedro Martin de Herrada and Geronimo Marin, came to Fu-kien, where they remained but four months and sixteen days. The first general work on China was written by the Augustinian Juan Gonzales de Mendoïa (Rome, 1585) and translated into most languages. It was not until 1680 that Alvaro de Benevente arrived in China; he was consecrated titular Bishop of Ascalon and placed at the head of the newly created vicariate of Kiang-si (1699) with his residence at Kan-chou. He died suddenly at Macao in 1705 and was not replaced, the Vicar Apostolic of Fu-kien taking charge also of Kiang-si and Che-kiang. The Augustinians had been absent from China for some time, when, it 1879, they sent from Manila Elias Suarez and Agustæn Villanueva to take charge of part of Hu-nan which on 19 Sept. was erected into a vicariate under Saturin de la Torre.

 

Société des Missions Estrangères

 

The creation in 1622 of the Sacra Congregatio de Propagandâ Fide made it possible to centralize the work of missions in order that their wants might be studied and their field of action broadened. No apostle was more eager than Alexandre de Rhodes, S.J. (b. at Avignon, 15 March, 1591; d. at Ispahan, 5 Nov., 1660) in appealing to Rome to make known the want of priests for numerous missions. He had thoroughly studied the question and travelled extensively in China, Cochin-China, Tong-king, and Persia. Pope Innocent X wished to consecrate Père de Rhodes bishop, but through modesty the missionary declined this honor. His reward was to consist in the success of the cause he so warmly advocated. On 7 August, 1651, Propaganda begged the pope to appoint a patriarch, two or three archbishops, and twelve bishops to the various churches of Eastern Asia. By a brief of 17 August, 1658, Alexander VII nominated Franïois Pallu, Canon of St. Martin of Tours, and titular Bishop of Heliopolis, and Pierre de la Motte Lambert, titular Bishop of Berytus, to take charge of the missions in China and the neighboring countries, with the power of choosing a third vicar Apostolic. Their choice fell on Cotolendi, vicar of Sainte-Madeleine at Aix-en-Provence. The vicars Apostolic asked Propaganda for authority to found a seminary for the conversion of infidels and the training of missionaries. Jean Duval, in religion Dom Bernard of St. Theresa, a Barefooted Carmelite, vicar Apostolic of Persia and titular Bishop of Babylon, donated a suitable site in Paris (16 March, 1663) and the directors took possession, 27 Oct, 1664. This was the beginning of the Société des Missions Estrangères. The first superiors were Vincent de Meurs of Tréguier (1664-68) and Michel Gazil of Tours (1668-70). The first directors were Michel Gazil (d. 14 Jan., 1697), and Armand Poitevin (d. 1682). Pierre de la Motte Lambert and Jacques de Bourges were the first missionaries who left Paris. The first departure from the Paris seminary took place 8 Nov., 1665. The missionaries embarked at La Rochelle, 14 March, 1666. The Missions Estrangères had priests at Nan-king (Cotolendi died on the journey; Laneau, who resided at Siam); in the province of Fu-kien (Pallu, 1679-84; Charles Maigrot, 1697-1707); in the province of Sze-ch'wan (Artsu de Lyonne, 1697-1713); in the province of Yun-nan (Philibert le Blanc, 16697; Enjobert de Martillat, 1727-52). Notwithstanding the hostility of Portugal, the Missions Estrangères continued to flourish, and to-day they are spread over a great portion of the Chinese Empire, besides having missions in Japan, Tong-king, Chocin-China, Cambodia, Siam, Malacca, Burma, and India. There is a procurator at Hong-Kong and one at Shang-hai, and a sanatorium (Béthanie) at Hong-Kong. In the island of Hong-Kong, the society conducts a printing office at Pakfulum, called "Imprimerie de Nazareth", where books are issued no only in French and Latin, but also in Chinese, Annamite, Japanese, Korean, Cambodian, Bahnar, Malay, and Tibetan. The priests of the Missions Estrangères have made a special study of languages and have published the following dictionaries: Pigneaux and Taberd, "Dict. Anamito-latinum" (Serampore, 1833); Taberd, "Dict. Latino-Anamiticum" (Serampore, 1838); "Vocabulaire Cochinchinois" (1838); Theurel, "Dict. Anamitico-Latinum" (Ninh-phu, 1877); Ravier, "Dict Latino-Anamiticum" (Ninh-phu, 1880); Pallegoix, "Dict. Linguae Thai" (Paris, 1854); "Dict. coréen-franïais" (Yokohama, 1880); "Dict. chinois-franïais (dialect of western China, Hong-Kong, 1893); Dourisboure, "Dict. Bahnar-franïais" (Hong-Kong, 1889); Desgodins, "Dict. thibétain-latin-franccais" (Hong-Kong, 1899).

 

Lazarists (Cong. Missionis)

 

The first Lazarists were sent to China by Propaganda; Luigi Antonio Appiani (Pie), Johann Mullener (Mo) in 1699, T. Pedrini (Te) in 1710. Appiani (b. at Dogliani, 22 March, 1663; d. 29 Aug., 1732), was vice-visitor in China, Mullener (b. at Bremen, 4 Oct. 1673; d. 17 Dec. 1742), titular Bishop of Myriopolis, was the second vicar Apostolic of Sze-ch'wan. Pedrini (born at Fermo, Italy; d. at Peking, 10 Dec., 1746) took a very active part in the discussion over the Rites. However it was not until they replaced the Jesuits at Peking, that the Lazarists got a firm footing in China. When the Society of Jesus was suppressed by Clement XIV, the offer of the succession was declined by the Missions Estrangères of Paris, and was finally accepted, though not without reluctance, by the Lazarists, and confirmed by a Roman decree of 7 Dec., 1783, approved of by Louis XVI of France at Versailles, 25 Jan., 1784. The superior general, Antoine Jacquier, chose for the new missions Nicolas-Joseph Raux (b. at Ohain, Hainault, 14 April, 1754; d. 16 Nov. 1801); Jean-Joseph Ghislain (b. at Salles, Diocese of Cambrai, 5 May, 1751; d. 12 August, 1812), and Brother Charles Portis. They arrived at Canton, 29 August, 1784. Peking, however, had to be abandoned during the greater part of the nineteenth century, and was finally recovered after the war of 1860, by Bishop Joseph-Martial Moulay (b. at Figeac, 2 Aug., 1807; d. 4 Dec., 1868), Vicar Apostolic of Northern Chi-li. Monsignor Alphonse-Pierre Favier, a Lazarist, titular bishop of Pentacomia (b. 22 Sept., 1837), Vicar Apostolic of Peking during the Boxer rebellion, was one of the successors of Bishop Mouly. Among the remarkable Lazarists of China, mention may be made of Joachim-Affonso Gonïalves (b. in Portugal, 23 March, 1781; d. 3 Oct., 1844), a great sinologist, author of "Arte China", and several grammars and dictionaries, and the celebrated naturalist Armand David, (b. at Espalette, 7 Sept., 1826, d. at Paris, 10 Nov., 1900). The well-known traveller in Tibet, Evariste-Régis Hue (b. at Caylus, 1 June, 1813; d. March 1860) was also a Lazarist. In the vicariates administered by the Lazarists are a number of Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, who are devoted nurses in the hospitals. The Lazarists also have charge of the Work of the Holy Childhood, for the redemption of forsaken native children, with headquarters at T'ing-hi (Chusan Island). The Lazarists have a procurator at Shanghai. Since 1832 they have published the "Annales de la Congrégation de la Mission". The head-quarters of the mission at at Paris.

 

The Belgian Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (Imm. Cord. B. M. V. de Scheutveld)

 

This congregation was established at Brussels by a retired military chaplain, Théophile Verbist (b. at Antwerp, 1823; d. in Mongolia, 24 Feb., 1868). His first companion was Van Segvelt, and he was soon joined by Franïois Vranckx and Verlinden, and later by Jacques Bax and Ferdinand Hamer, who were afterwards vicars Apostolic. The Belgian missions extended over Mongolia, Kan-su, and Central Asia. In February, 1889, this congregation established the periodical "Missions en Chine et au Congo", published at Brussels in both French and Flemish. The head-quarters of the missions are at Scheutveld near Brussels.

 

Foreign Missions of Milan (Sem. Mediol. Miss. Ext.)

 

A new seminary was established at Milan, 31 July, 1850, by Monsignor A. Ramazzotti, later Bishop of Pavia, and Patriarch of Venice, with the help of Fathers Reina, Mazzucconi, Salerio, Ripamonti, and Guiseppe Marinoni (b. at Milan, 11 Oct, 1810; d. 27 Jan., 1891). The last named was the real founder of the order and its first director. The head-quarters are at Milan.

 

Priests of Steyl

 

(Sem. Steylen. pro Miss. Ext. Soc. Verbi Divini) This congregation was founded in 1875 by Arnold Janssen, a priest of the Diocese of Münster (Westphalia), chaplain of the Ursaline Sisters at Kempen (Rhenish Prussia), and editor of the "Kliner Herz Jesu Bote", at Steyl (Holland), near Tegelen and Venloo. The new German congregation obtained from the Franciscans the concession of part of Shan-tung of which Johann Baptist Anzer was appointed pro-vicar, 2 Jan., 1882, and vicar Apostolic, 22 Dec. 1885. When Bishop Anzer of Telepta died (24 Nov., 1903), he was replaced by Bishop Henninghaus. This mission is under German protectorate, with head-quarters at Steyl.

 

The Seminary of Sts. Peter and Paul (Sem. SS. Apost. Petri et Pauli de Urbe)

 

Founded at Rome by Pius IX in 1874, has a small mission in Southern Shen-si.

 

PROTECTORATE

 

The partition of the newly-found lands by the Holy See, at the end of the fifteenth century, assigned Asia to Portugal, which had the control of missionaries in China, by a Bull of Nicholas V (8 Jan., 1454). The first blow struck at this protectorate was the creation of the Sacra Congregatio de Propagandâ Fide by Gregory XV, 22 June, 1622, and the appointment of two French vicars Apostolic in 1658. The next was the sending of five Jesuits to China in 1685, by Louis XIV, who pledged himself to protect his subjects. The rivalry of Portugal and France in this mission field was no slight factor in the failure of the special missions of Cardinal de Tournon. Lazarists took the place of Jesuits at Peking with the agreement of France. When the Portuguese bishop, Gaetao Pires, died at Peking, 2 Nov. 1838, his country did not name a successor and his place was taken by the French Lazarists and their bishop, Mouly. The French ambassador, Th. Lagrené, signed a treaty at Whampoa, 24 Oct., 1844, in which it is stipulated (art. XXIII) that the French shall have the right to establish churches, hospitals, schools, and cemeteries. Again in Art. XIII of the French Treaty of T'ien-tsin. it was stipulated that protection should be granted to missionaries travelling with regular passports in the interior of China, and that all edicts against the Christian religion should be abrogated. By art. VI of the French Peking Convention of 1860, it was agreed that all the buildings confiscated by the Chinese should be restored to the Christians through the French Legation at Peking. Four churches of the capital, or their sites, were then surrendered to the French Ambassador, Baron Gros, who issued passports to twenty-eight missionaries of various congregations and nationalities. Portugal did not protest or interfere, leaving France undisturbed in the exercise of her protectorate over all the missions in China.

 

On 20 February, 1865, M. Berthemy, the French Minister at Peking, had a correspondence with the Tsung-il Yamen, with regard to the purchase of lands and houses by French missionaries. The question was definitely settled by M. Gérard, 14 April, 1895, and the agreement is known as the "Berthemy Convention". In 1885 an attempt was made to send a papal nuncio or legate to Peking, but when France observed that it would interfere with her protectorate, Rome did not insist. In 1890-91, after lengthy negotiations with the Holy See and the German Bishop Anzer of Shan-tung, the German Government succeeded in having German missions placed under its protectorate. Of course France could not object to the protection given by a sovereign to his own subjects. Arrangements have also been made with Italy for the protection of Italian subjects, but the matter is not so simple in this case on account of the relations between the Italian Government and the Holy See. These claims have no practical effect on the protectorate of France, which, with the Mission Etrangères of Paris, the Lazarists, and the French Jesuits, has the lion's share in this immense field of evangelization.

 

HIERARCHY

 

An important imperial decree of 15 March, 1899, established on an official basis the relations between the Catholic clergy and the local authorities of China; the bishops were placed on an equal footing with the viceroys and the governors, the vicars-general ranked with the treasurers, provincial judges and Tao-t'ai, priests with prefects. This decree was signed at the suggestion of Bishop Favier of Peking, but its wisdom has been much disputed.

 

PRESENT STATE OF THE CATHOLIC MISSIONS

 

On 27 April, 1879, the pope gave his approval to a resolution of Propaganda dividing the Chinese Empire into five ecclesiastical regions.

 

First Region

 

Including the following vicariates Apostolic: In the Chi-li province: (1) South-eastern Chi-li, erected in 1856; under the care of the Jesuits, residence, Chang-kia-chwang, in the prefecture of Ho-kien; vicar Apostolic, Henri Maquet, appointed titular Bishop of Amatheus in 1901; 49 priests, 20 native priests, 62,454 Christians, 8036 catechumens, 332 churches and chapels. (2) Northern Chi-li, erected in 1856; under the Lazarists; residence, Peking; vicar Apostolic, Stanislas Jarlin, appointed titular Bishop of Pharbætus in 1900; 43 priests, 54 native priests, 105,170 Christians, 20,000 catechumens, 456 churches and chapels. (3) South-Western Chi-li, erected 1856; under the Lazarists; residence, Cheng-ting; vicar Apostolic, Monsignor Brugnière, titular Bishop of Cina (d. 1907; 19 priests, 22 native priests, 44,500 Christians, 6530 catechumens, 344 churches or chapels. (4) Eastern Chi-li, erected 23 Dec., 1899; under the Lazarists; residence, Yung-p'ing; vicar Apostolic, Ernest Francis Geurts, appointed titular Bishop of Rhinocolura in 1900; 9 priests, 1 native priests, 5823 Christians, 1000 catechumens, 25 churches and chapels. In the Ho-nan Province: (5) Northern Ho-nan, erected in 1869; under the priests of the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Milan; residence, Wei-hwei; vicar Apostolic, Giovanni Menicatti, appointed titular Bishop of Tanis in 1903; 12 priests, 2 native priests, 4532 Christians, 3827 catechumens, 70 churches and chapels. In Manchuria (6) Southern Manchuria, erected in 1856; under the priests of the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Paris; residence, Mukden; vicar Apostolic, Félix-Marie Choulet, appointed titular Bishop of Zela in 1901; 32 priests, 8 native priests, 20,628 Christians, 6950 catechumens, 90 churches and chapels. (7) Northern Manchuria, erected 1856; under the priests of the Seminary of Foreign Missions of Paris; residence, Cheng-ting; vicar Apostolic, Pierre-Marie Lalouyer, appointed titular Bishop of Raphaneæ in 1898; 25 priests, 8 native priests, 15,823 Christians, 8725 catechumens, 93 churches and chapels. In Mongolia: (8) Eastern Mongolia, erected 21 Dec., 1883; priests of Scheutveld, Brussels; residence, Sung-tsoei-tze; vicar Apostolic, Conrad Abels, appointed titular Bishop of Lagania in 1897; 39 priests, 9 native priests, 17,466 Christians, 7100 catechumens, 47 churches and chapels. (9) Central Mongolia, erected 21 Dec., 1883; priests of Scheutveld; residence, Si-wan-tze; vicar Apostolic, Jerome Van Aertselaer, appointed titular Bishop of Zarai in 1898; 47 priests, 23 native priests, 23,776 Christians, 6244 catechumens, 125 churches and chapels. (7) South-Western Mongolia, erected 21 Dec., 1883; priests of Scheutveld; residence, Sang-tao-ho-tze; vicar Apostolic, Alphonse Bermyn, appointed titular Bishop of Stratonicea in 1901; 47 priests, 1 native priest, 11,430 Christians, 4094 catechumens, 37 churches and chapels.

 

Second Region

 

Including the following vicariates Apostolic: (1) Northern Kan-su, erected 21 May, 1878; priests of Scheutveld; residence, Liang-chou; vicar Apostolic, Ubert Otto, appointed titular Bishop of Assur in 1891; 20 priests, 1 native priest, 2702 Christians, 233 catechumens, 23 churches and chapels. (2) Southern Kan-su (Pref. Ap.), erected 28 April, 1905; priests of Scheutveld; residence, T'sin-chou; prefect Apostolic, Evrard Terlask, 12 priests, 3 native priests, 1106 Christians, 626 catechumens, 13 churches and chapels. (3) I-li or Kuldja (mission), erected 1 Oct, 1888; priests of Scheutveld; residence, I-li; superior of the mission, Jean-Baptiste Steeneman; 6 priests, 300 Christians, 2 churches and chapels. (4) Northern Shen-si, erected 1844; Franciscans; residence, Kao-lin-hien, near Si-ngan-fu; vicar Apostolic, Athanasius Goette, appointed titular Bishop of Lampa in 1905; 14 priests, 26 native priests, 24,100 Christians, 5000 catechumens, 203 churches and chapels. (5) Southern Shen-si, erected 6 July, 1887; priests of the Seminary of Sts. Peter and Paul, Rome; residence, Ku-lu-pa; vicar Apostolic, Pio Giuseppe Passerini, appointed titular Bishop of Archantus in 1895; 16 priests, 2 native priests, 11,489 Christians, 6305 catechumens, 56 churches and chapels. (6) Northern Shan-si, erected 3 Feb., 1844; Franciscans; residence, T'ai-yuan, vicar Apostolic, Agapito Agusto Fiorentini, appointed titular Bishop of Rusaddir in 1902; 15 priests, 16 native priests, 18,200 Christians, 7302 catechumens, 174 churches and chapels. (7) Southern Shan-si, erected 17 June, 1890; -Franciscans; residence, T'ai-yuan; vicar Apostolic, Agapito Agusto Fiorentini, appointed titular Bishop of Rusaddir in 1902; 15 priests, 16 native priests, 18,200 Christians, 7302 catechumens, 174 churches and chapels. (8) Northern Shang-tung, erected 1839; Franciscans; residence, Tsi-nan; vicar Apostolic, Ephrem Giesen, appointed Bishop of Paltus in 1902; 26 priests, 19 native priests, 23,568 Christians, 15,735 catechumens, 187 churches and chapels. (9) Eastern Shang-tung, erected 16 Feb., 1894; Franciscans; residence, Che-fu; vicar Apostolic, Cèsar Schang, appointed titular Bishop of Vaga in 1894; -26 priests, 5 native priests, 9900 Christians, 1500 catechumens, 153 churches and chapels. (10) Southern Shang-tung, erected 22 Dec., 1885; priests of Steyl; residence, Yen-cho; vicar Apostolic, August Henninghaus, appointed titular Bishop of Hypæpa in 1904; 46 priests, 12 native priests, 35,301 Christians, 36,367 catechumens, 131 churches and chapels.

 

Third Region

 

Including the following vicariates Apostolic: (1) Che-kiang, erected 1696; re-established, 1845 Lazarists; residence, Ning-po; vicar Apostolic, Paul-Marie Reynaud, appointed titular Bishop of Fussola in 1884; 30 priests, 16 native priests, 25,126 Christians, 8633 catechumens, 153 churches and chapels. (2) Southern Ho-nan, erected 28 Aug.,1882; priests from the Seminary of Milan; residence, Nan-yang; vicar Apostolic, Angelo Cattaneo, appointed titular Bishop of Hippus in 1905; 13 priests, 13 native priests, 12,000 Christians, 6000 catechumens, 83 churches and chapels. (3) Western Ho-nan (Pref. Ap.), erected 22 Jan.,1882; Congregation of St. Francis Xavier of Parma; residence, Sian-ch'eng; prefect Apostolic, Lodovico Calza; 8 priests, 1055 Christians, 2000 catechumens, 8 churches and chapels. (4) Southern Hu-nan, erected 1856; Franciscans; residence, Sean-sa-van, near Heng-chou; vicar Apostolic, Pelligrino Luigi Mondaini, appointed titular Bishop of Synaus in 1902; 15 priests, 6 native priests, 6499 Christians, 1000 catechumens, 22 churches and chapels. (5) Northern Hu-nan, erected 19 Sept., 1879; Augustinians; residence, She-men, near Li-chu; vicar Apostolic, Lodovico Perez y Perez, appointed titular Bishop of Corycus in 1896; 24 priests, 2 native priests, 2677 Christians, 3317 catechumens, 32 churches and chapels. (6) North-western Hu-pe, erected 1870; Franciscans; residence, Lao-ho-k'ou; vicar Apostolic, Fabiano Landi, appointed titular Bishop of Tænarum in 1904; 16 priests, 14 native priests, 17,211 Christians, 9400 catechumens, 75 churches and chapels. (6) South-western Hu-pe, erected 1870; Franciscans; residence, I-ch'ang; vicar Apostolic, Modestus Everaerts, appointed titular Bishop of Tadama in 1904; 20 priests, 8 native priests, 10,546 Christians, 6384 catechumens, 75 churches and chapels. (7) Eastern Hu-pe, erected 1870; Franciscans; residence, Wu-ch'ang; vicar Apostolic, Epifanio Carlassare, appointed titular Bishop of Madaura in 1884; 23 priests, 18 native priests, 24,792 Christians, 20,000 catechumens, 105 churches and chapels. (9) Kiang-nan or Nan-king, erected 1660; re-established 1856; Jesuits; residence, Shanghai; vicar Apostolic, Prosper Paris, appointed titular Bishop of Silandus in 1900; 131 priests, 60 native priests, 164,088 Christians, 95,013 catechumens, 984 churches and chapels. (10) Northern Kiang-si, erected 1845; Lazarists; residence, Kiu-kiang; vicar Apostolic, Paul-Louis Ferrant, appointed titular Bishop of Barbalissus in 1898; 18 priests, 4 native priests, 11,397 Christians, 8861 catechumens, 110 churches and chapels. (11) Southern Kiang-si, erected 1879; Lazarists; residence, Ki-ngan; vicar Apostolic, Auguste Coqset, appointed Bishop of Cardica in 1898; 15 priests, 6 native priests, 8637 Christians, 2932 catechumens, 43 churches and chapels. (12) Eastern Kiang-si, erected 14 August, 1885; Lazarists; residence, Fu-chou; vicar Apostolic, Casimir Vic, appointed titular Bishop of Metellopolis in 1898; 21 priests, 10 native priests, 16,295 Christians, 3500 catechumens, 56 churches and chapels.

 

Fourth Region

 

Including the following vicariates Apostolic: (1) Kwei-chou, erected 1708; re-established 1847; priests of the Seminary for Foreign Missions of Paris; residence, Kwei-yang; vicar Apostolic, Franïois-Mathur1n Guichard, appointed titular Bishop of Torone in 1884; 49 priests, 17 native priests, 24,018 Christians, 22,825 catechumens, 106 churches and chapels. (2) North-western Sze-ch'wan, erected 1680; priests of the Paris seminary; residence, Ch'eng-tu; vicar Apostolic, Marie-Julien Dunand, appointed titular Bishop of Caloe in 1893; 39 priests, 45 native priests, 40,000 Christians, 8,672 catechumens, 105 churches and chapels. (3) Eastern Sze-ch'wan, erected 1860; priests of the Paris seminary; residence, Ch'ung-k'ing; vicar Apostolic, Célestin-Félix Dunand, appointed titular Bishop of Dansara in 1891; 48 priests, 41 native priests, 34,800 Christians, 17,000 catechumens, 103 churches and chapels. (4) South-western Sze-ch'wan, erected 1860; priests of the Paris seminary; residence, Sui-fu; vicar Apostolic, Marc Chatagnon, appointed titular Bishop of Chersonesus in 1887; 46 priests, 14 native priests, 26,000 Christians, 6,000 catechumens, 40 churches and chapels. (5) Yu-nan, erected 1702; res-established, 1843; priests of the Paris seminary; residence, Yu-nan (Sze-ch'wan); 29 priests, 13 native priests, 10,390 Christians, 13,097 catechumens, 71 churches and chapels. (6) Tibet, erected 1846; priests of the Paris seminary; residence, Tat-tsien-lu (Sze-ch'wan); vicar Apostolic, Pierre-Phillipe Giraudeau, appointed titular Bishop of Thynias in 1901; 15 priests, 1 native priests, 2050 Christians, 1,000 catechumens, 14 churches and chapels.

 

Fifth Region

 

Including the following vicariates Apostolic; (1) Fu-kien, erected 1696; Dominicans; residence Fu-chou; vicar Apostolic, Salvator Masot, appointed titular Bishop of Avara in 1884; 37 priests, 16 native priests, 44,799 Christians, 25,806 catechumens, 116 churches and chapels. (2) Amoy, erected 3 Dec., 1883; Dominicans; residence Fu-chou; vicar Apostolic, Isidoro Clemente Gutierrez, appointed titular Bishop of Augila in 1900; 18 priests, 1 native priests, 4242 Christians, 4773 catechumens, 57 churches and chapels. (3) Hong-Kong, erected 1874; priests from the Seminary of Milan; vicar Apostolic Dominico Pozzani, appointed titular Bishop of Tavia in 1905; 12 priests, 10 native priests, 14,195 Christians, 1000 catechumens, 73 churches and chapels. (4) Kwang-tung (Pref. Ap.), erected 1850; priests from the Seminary of Paris; residence, Canton; prefect Apostolic Jean-Marie Mérel, appointed titular Bishop of Orcistus in 1905; 12 priests, 10 native priests, 14,195 Christians, 1000 catechumens, 73 churches and chapels. (4) Kwang-si (Pref. Ap.), erected 6 Aug., 1875; priests from the Seminary of Paris; residence, Nan-ning; prefect Apostolic Joseph-Marie Lavest, appointed titular Bishop of Sophene in 1900; 28 priests, 4 native priests, 3610 Christians, 4312 catechumens, 47 churches and chapels.

 

In the head-quarters (procures) of the various missions twenty-three priests officiate in eight chapels or churches. There are six foreign and five native Trappists. Macao is the seat of a diocese. There are 38 vicariates Apostolic; 4 prefectures Apostolic, 1 mission (I-li), 1 diocese (Macao) with 1280 foreign and 577 native priests for 1,014,266 Christians. Mention should also be made of the Marist Brothers (Maristæ) and many sisters, both foreign and native; Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul, of St. Joseph, of Providence of Portieux, of the Third Order of St. Francis, of Canossa, of St. Paul of Chartres; Servants of the Holy Ghost, Daughters of Purgatory, etc.; in the vicariate of Kiang-nan there are 32 Carmelite Sisters (1 house); 91 (33 native) Helpers of the Souls in Purgatory (3 houses); 31 Sisters of Charity; 9 Little Sisters of the Poor, and 173 Chinese girls. There is at Hong-Kong a Procurator General of Propaganda for Chinese and Indo-Chinese missions.

 

MANICHÆANS

 

The Manichæans were called by the Chinese Mo-ni, a transcription of Mâni; they are mentioned as earlier as 631 and were intimately connected with the Uigars, who suffered a crushing defeat, 13 Feb., 843. No doubt as a result of that defeat, in the edict of 845, prohibiting all foreign religions, the Mo-ni are not mentioned. Probably it is the language of the Mo-ni, not of the Nestorians or of the Mohammedans that is mentioned in the Kara-Belgasun inscription in the first half of the ninth century. However, a passage of the Chinese work, "Fo-tsu-t'ung-ki", mentions the Mo-ni as "still existing in the Three Mountains", on the right bank of the Yang-tze above Nan-king.

 

PROTESTANT MISSIONS

 

The first Protestant (Ye-su-kiao) worker among the Chinese was Joshua Marshman, though he did not go to China, his labours being carried on in Bengal, at Serampore, where he died 7 Dec., 1837. The actual founder of the Protestant missions to the Chinese was Robert Morrison (Ma Li-sun), born of Scottish parents at Buller's Green, in Northumberland, 5 Jan., 1872; he entered the London Missionary Society in 1805, commenced the study of Chinese in London with a Chinaman, Yong Sam-tak, and on 31 Jan., 1807, he embarked for China via America. On 4 Sept., he reached Macao, whence he proceeded to Canton, where he died, 1 Aug., 1834. he published many works in Chinese and English, the best known of which is "A Dictionary of the Chinese Language", published at Macao, at the press of the East India Co. (1815-23). Morrison was followed by William Milne (b. 1785; d. 2 June, 1822), principal of the Anglo-Chinese College of Malacca and Walter Henry Medhurst (b. 29 April, 1796; d. 24 Jan., 1957). In 1827 Karl Friedrich Gützlaff (b. at Pyritz, Prussia, 8 July, 1803); d. at Hong-Kong, 1851) was sent to China by the Nederlandsch Zendelinggenootschap. On 19 Feb., 1830, Elijah Coleman Bridgman (b. 22 April, 1801, at Belchertown, Mass.; d. 2 Nov., 1861) arrived, the first agent of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Then came (1834) William Dean, for the American Baptist Missionary Union; Henry Lockwood (1835) for the Board of Foreign Missions of the protestant Episcopal Church in the United States; G. Tradescant Lay (1836), for the British and Foreign Bible Society; Edward B. Squire (1836) for the Church Missionary Society. In 1847, the German Missions of Basil and the Rhine sent representatives. The China Inland Mission which is still in full vigour was started in 1862 by James Meadow. During the last few years American and Scandinavian missions have greatly increased.

 

Among the noteworthy Protestant missionaries not already named, the following may be mentioned; Americans: David Abeel (b. New Brunswick, N. J., 12 June, 1804; d. 4 Sept. 1846); S. W. Bonney (b. 8 March, 1815, at New Canaan, Conn.; d. 27 July, 1864); William Jones Boone (d. 17 July, 1864), the first missionary bishop; Justus Doolittle (b. 23 June, 1824; d. 15 June, 1880); W. A. P. Martin, late President of the Peking University; Peter Parker (b. 1804; d. 10 Jan., 1888), at one time American Minister to China; Samuels Wells Williams (b. at Utica, N. Y., 22 Sept., 1812; d. 16 Feb., 1884, at New Haven), the greatest of American sinologists, at one time U. S. Chargé d'Affairs at Peking, and towards the .end of his life, Professor of Chinese at Yale University. British: Carstairs Douglas (b. 27 Dec., 1820; d. at Amoy, 20 July, 1877); Joseph Edkins (d. 23 April, 1905), the author of innumerable books and papers on China; Griffith John (b. 1831); James Legge (b. at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, 20 Dec., 1815); d. 29 Nov., 1897), the great scholar and translator of Chinese classics; Arthur Evans Moulay (arrived at China in 1861); J. Hudson Taylor (b. 21 May, 1832; d. 3 June, 1905), who gave a great impulse to the China Inland Mission; Alexander Wylie (b. 6 April, 1815; d. 6 Feb, 1887), biographer and historian; the German, Ernst Faber (b. 25 April, 1839; d. 26 Sept., 1899); the Swede, Th. Hamburg (d. 13 May, 1854).

 

Medical missions, including the establishment of general and ophthalmic hospitals have no doubt greatly help develop the Protestant missions. These were at first established at the treaty post only, but now they have spread into the interior of the country, mainly through the medium of the China Inland Mission.

 

The Protestant missions suffered greatly during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1900), losing 188 members (100 Englishmen, 56 Swedes, 32 Americans), in Shang-si and beyond (159), Chi-li (17), Che-kiang (11), and Shang-tung (1). The provinces belonged mainly to the China Inland Mission, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the American Board, etc. At various times no less that 111 societies have had representatives in China, more than half having begun their work between 1887 and 1907. In 1876 there were 29 societies working in China, which by 1906 had risen to 82. The question of Rites has been raised among the Protestant missionaries under the name of the "Term Question", because of a lack of unity in the choice of a term to describe the Deity: Shin, T'ien-shin, T'ien-chu, etc. being proposed. Shang-ti seems to meet the approval of the majority. The Bible or portions of the Bible have been translated under the auspices of the three Bible societies, British, Foreign, and American, and the National Society of Scotland, into the following dialects: Mandarin, Fu-chou, Canton, Shang-hai, Su-chou, Hakka; Swatow (printed in Chinese characters); Ning-po, Fu-chou, Amoy, Mandarin, Kien-ning, T'ai-chou, Shang-hai, Hakka, Swatow, Hai-nan, Hing-hwa, Wen-chou, Kien-yang, Canton, Peking, Shang-tung, Su-chou (in Roman characters). In 1900 the publications of the Chinese agencies of the three Bible societies amounted to 1,523,930 copies of the whole Bible or portions thereof (991,300 in Mandarin, 291,900 in simple Wen-li, 187,000 in classical Chinese. etc.). The well-known periodical "The Chinese Repository" was edited from May, 1832 to Dec., 1851 (20 vols.), at Canton, by two American missionaries, E. C. Bridgman, and his successor, S. W. Williams. The "Chinese Recorder", started in May, 1868, at Fu-chou by Rev. S. L. Baldwin has been conducted at Shanghai since January, 1874. On January 1, 1903, according to "The Encyclopedia of Missions" (Dwight, Tupper, and Bliss), Protestant missions in China (including Manchuria) included 2708 foreign missionaries, 5700 native workers, 3316 places of religious worship. 1570 elementary schools, 129 high schools, 138 hospital dispensaries, 24 printing establishments, 144,237 professing Christians. According to the "Shanghai Mercury" the number of foreign workers (men and women), which in 1873 had been 473, was on 31 Dec., 1907, 3833; the total number of baptized Christians and catechumens being 256,779.

 

RUSSIAN ECCLESIASTICAL MISSION

 

This mission was begun by thirty-one Russians, made prisoner at the time of the first siege of Albasin (7 July, 1684), and taken to Peking with the "Pope" Maxim Leontieff. The first mission was started in 1715 by the Archimandrite Hilarion, accompanied by a "pope" and a deacon; the mission is first mentioned in a diplomatic document, Article 5 of the treaty signed in 1727 by Count Vladislavitch; the "popes" never tried to make converts; they simply acted as chaplains to the Albasin refugees and later also to the Russian embassy. Between 1852 and 1866 the members of this mission issued four volumes of memoirs relating to various Chinese subjects; two of the "popes" have left a name in Chinese studies; Father Yakiuf Bichurin, and the Archimandrite Palladius, compiler of a very valuable dictionary. The Russian mission suffered much during the Boxer rebellion, and its valuable library was destroyed.

 

JEWS IN CHINA

 

The first mention of Jews (Tiao-kin-kiao) is found in the records of the Jesuit missionaries of Peking. At the beginning of the 17th century, a young Israelite, Ngai, on paying a visit (1605) to Matteo Ricci, declared that he worshipped one God, and seeing at the mission a picture of the Virgin with the Child, Jesus, he believed it was Rebecca with Esau or Jacob. He stated that he came from K'ai-feng, the capital of Ho-nan, where his brethren resided. However, the Jews, often taken for the Hwei-hwei, or Mohammedans, had been mentioned under the name of Chu-hu in the Chinese Annals (Yuan-shi) of 1329, for the first time, and again in 1354. Ricci sent to K'ai-feng a Chinese Jesuit, who was followed later on by Giulio Aleni (1613), Gozanu (1704), Gaubil, and Domenge. Finally it was discovered that these Jews has a synagogue (Li-pai-sze), looking to the east, and possessed many books. Facsimiles of some of the books were made in Shanghai in 1851. Three tablets bearing inscriptions have been found at K'ai-feng: (1) The oldest, dated 1489, commemorating the reconstruction of the synagogue Ts'ing-chen-sze, states that seventy Jewish families arrived in China at the court of the Sung (960 to 1278). (2) The second, dated 1512, placed in the synagogue Ts'uen-chang-tao-king-sze, was taken to China under the Han dynasty. (3) The third, dated 1663, commemorating the rebuilding of the synagogue Ts'ing-chen-sze, says that the Jewish religion had its origin in India and was introduced to China at the time of the Chou (1122-955 B.C.) which is manifestly wrong. The Jews came to China through Persia after the capture of Jerusalem by Titus, during the first century of the Christian era, under the Emperor Ming-ti of the Han dynasty. This statement is based upon oral tradition. Professor Chavannes writes that the Jews came to China from India by sea under the Sung dynasty, between 960 and 1126 (Revue de Synthèse historique, Dec., 1900). Father Joseph Brucker, after reading carefully Ricci's original manuscripts, Finds that his informer, Ngai, stated that there were but ten or twelve families at K'ai-feng, where they had been settled but five or six hundred years, and that they were much more numerous at Hang-chou (Etudes, 20 Nov., 1907). This seems to confirm the theory of Chavannes and the text of the inscription of 1489; the arrival of the Jews at the court of the Sung, which was Ling-ngan, or Hang-chou. The Jews called themselves Tiao-kin-kiao (the sect which extracts the sinew), referring to the struggle of Jacob with the Angel (Genesis, xxxii, 32); they suffered greatly and were scattered during the T'ai-ping rebellion (1857). They have since gone back to their old seat, but they are neither numerous nor prosperous.

 

MOHAMMEDANS

 

(Hwei-hwei-kiao). The first mention of the Arabs, called Ta-shi, is found in the annals of the T'ang dynasty (618-907); in 713 there is a record in China of a Ta-shi ambassador. In 758, a large Mohammedan colony, settled at Canton, rebelled, burnt their houses, and fled by sea. They had a large mosque (Hwei-sheng-sze), built under the T'ang dynasty, which was destroyed by fire in 1314, and rebuilt in 1349-51; only the ruins of a tower mark the site of the first building. Two inscriptions of the sixteen century refer to the mosques of Nan-king; one of the same date was found at Si-ngan-fu as well as the following which is considered apocryphal by some savants. Palladius writes (Russian Memoirs, IV, 438) that a Mohammedan tablet was discovered at Si-ngan-fu bearing the date A.D. 742, and recording the fact that during the reign of the Sui emperor, K'ai-h'wang (581-600) Islamism penetrated into China. The difficulty is to make this date tally with the Hegira (622). It is the belief of the writer that the introduction of Islam was gradual. The adherents were first known as Ta-shi (Arabs), but have since been known as Hwei-hwei. They paid tribute to the chief of the Si Lao or Kara K'itai and in the twelfth century there was a regiment of Hwei-hwei in the Kin army. Many distinguished Mohammedans serve in the Mongol army, among them Nasruddin, who was governor of Yun-nan. In the fourteenth century, some of the Mongol chiefs, Barak Khan, Kabak Khan, and finally the Khakan Tughluk Timur, embraced Islamism. The influence of Mohammedanism in Central Asia rose as the Mongol authority was declining. The Arab geographer, Abu'lfeda, mentions the following cities of China (Sin): Khanfu (Hang-chou), Khandju, Yandju (Yang-chou), Zaitun (Ts'ean-chou), Khangu, Sila (Korea), Khadjou, Sankdju (Su-chou). The city of Si-ngan was called Khamdan. Ibn Batuta (fourteenth century visited Sin Kalan (Canton), and remarks that in every city of China there was always a sheikh ul Islam and a cadi to act as judges among the Mussulmans. The Arabs called the Chinese emperor Faghfur, an alteration of the Persian Baghpur (Son of God), equivalent to "Son of Heaven". China was Chin, or Mahachin, sometimes Tung-t'u, "Land of the East".

 

An imperial edict dated 4 May, 1729, says of the Mohammedans: "They muster strongest in Shen-si, and there they are persecuted more than anywhere else on account of their clubbings together to gamble, their secreting weapons and various other illegal acts. There they also give expression unreservedly to their wrath about the imperial decrees forbidding the slaughter of horned cattle, which are so indispensable to agriculture. They should therefore be constantly reminded to be kind and tolerant" (De Groot). In 1649 a rebellion broke out in Kan-su, in the part of Western Hwang-ho, and the Mohammedans occupied the fus of Kang-chou, Liang-chou, Min-chou, etc. Su-chou was retaken in 1649 by the imperial troops, and the rebel leader, Ting Kwo-tung, was killed with his followers. The 1781, the black-turbaned Salar Mussulmans dwelling at Si-ning, east of Ku-ku-nor, killed the prefect of Kan-chou, took Ho-chou, and besieged Lan-chou. imperial troops were called from all parts of the empire, and after a fierce resistance and great bloodshed, the chief, Kien-Wu, was killed, and the other leaders were exiled, 1784, to Hai-nan. New difficulties arose in August, 1789, and a number of Moslems were sent to Heh-lung-kiang, as slaves to the Tatars. They rebelled again in 1861, 1862, and 1895. In this region they are divided into "white-capped" Hwei-hwei, who burn incense as the other Chinese do, and "black-capped" Hwei-hwei, or Salar, who condemn this practice as pagan, and are more fanatical. These live at Salar Pakun, in the vicinity of Ho-chou.

 

In 1855 a quarrel between Mussulmans and Chinese miners working near Ta-li, in the Yu-nan province, was the occasion of a general rising of all Mohammedans in the region under two chiefs, Ma Te-sing and Ma-hien, who submitted in 1860, though they were victorious. However a young chief, Tu Wen-siu, established himself as a sultan in the stronghold of Ta-li, where he resisted the imperial troops until 19 Jan., 1873, when a wholesale massacre of Mohammedans took place. in 1863 another great rebellion broke out in the T'ien-shan province, or Ili, which had been conquered for the empire by K'ien Lung in 1759. Burzuk Khan, a descendant of the ancient chieftains, with the help of Yakub, an adventurer, taking advantage of the difficult position of the Chinese, captured the territory south of t[ien-shan. Eventually Yakub replaced his chief, assumed his title of Ameer, and founded a short-lived empire which came to an end with the death of Yakub and the capture by General Tso Tsung-tang of Aksu, the capital (19 Oct, 1877), Yarkand (21 Dec., 1877), Kashgar (26 Dec., 1877), and Khotan (4 Jan., 1878).

 

Though some Chinese Mohammedan pilgrims probably visited Mecca between the fifteenth and eighteenth century, there is no mention of them in Chinese literature dealing with Islam. This does not date further back than 1861 The land route of later hadjis (pilgrims) to Arab ran through Ki-fu-kwan, Hami, Turfan, Aksu, Andijan, Khokand, Samarkand, Bokhara, Charjui, Meshed, Hamadan, Kermanshah, Bagdad, Mossul, Diarbekir, Aleppo, Damascus, Jerusalem, Cairo. Some embarked at Jaffa; others in Mekran. After leaving Bokhara, they passed through Balkh, Tash-kurgan, Kabul, Kandhar, Kelat. The sea routes were through Ava to Rangoon, or Po-se and the Si-kiang. Of course with the facilities of modern navigation the sea-route is much used. The writer has known one of these hadjis. He could recite the Koran, although he did not understand what he said, nor could he read Arabic. Mohammedans have many mosques in the large cities of the empire, some of great importance in Peking, Si-ngan, Hang-chou, Canton, etc. In form they are much like Chinese temples, Arabic inscriptions being their characteristic feature. Many Moslems are officials of the empire, some occupying high positions, especially in the army. No accurate statistics are obtainable. According to M. Dabry, who is, however, a very unreliable author, there are in China between twenty and twenty-two million Mussulmans, of whom 8,350,000 are in Kan-su, 6,500,00 in Shen-si, 3,500,000 to 4,000,000 in Yun-nan. According to A.H. Keane, the numbers reach 30,000,000. Sara Chandra Das places them at 50,000,000 while the late Dr. Andrew Harper brings the figure down to 3,000,000.

 

Nève, Etablissment et destruction de la première chrétiénte en Chine (Louvain, 1864); Dabry de Theirsant, Le catholicisme en Chine au VIIIe siècle (Paris, 1877); D'Ollone, La Chine novatrice et guerrière (Paris, 1906), iii, 112-14, vi, 132-53; Rohrbacher, Hist univ. de l'église cath. (Paris, 1857), X, 179-84, XI, 61-73; Parker, The Earliest Christianity in China in Dublin Rev. (1904), 380-404; Idem, China and Religion (London, 1905), vi, 120-83, ix, 178-208; Henrion, Hist. générale des missions cath. depuis le XIIIe siècle jusqu'ê nos jours (Paris, 1847); Yule, The Book of Marco Polo, the Venetian, concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East (London, 1875); Cordier, Les voyages en Asie au XIVe siècle du B. Frère Odoric du Pordenone (Paris, 1891); Huc, Le christianisme en Chine, en Tartarie et au Tibet (Paris, 1857-58), tr. Hazlitt (London, 1857, New York, 1887); Marshall, Christian Missions, Their Agents, Methods and Results (London, 1862); Cordier, Relations de la Chine avec les puissances étrangères (Paris, 1901); Parker, The Preaching of the Gospel in China, in China Rev. (1889), Vol. XVIII, 152-77; Fink; The Sicawei Observatory in East of Asia Magazine (1902), I, 350-77; Kannengeisner, Missions cath. (Paris, 1900); Edkins, Religion in China (London, 1905), xvi, 166-77; Roy, Hist. abrégée des missions cath. depuis le XVe siècle jusqu'ê nos jours (Tours, 1855); Piolet, Les missions cath. franïaises (Paris, 1904), III; Louvet, Les missions cath. au XIXe siècle (Lille, Paris, 1895), xii, 215-34; Victor Bernardin de Rouen, Hist, univ. des missions franciscaines (Paris, 1898), II, III; Launay, Hist. de la Société des Missions-Etrangères (Paris, 1896); Launay, La mission du Koang-si (Paris, 1903); Raynaud, Another China (Dublin, 1897); Leroy, En Chine, au Tché-li S.E. (Lille, 1900); Palâtre, La missions du Kiang-nan: son hist. et ses oeuvres (Paris, 1900); Casartelli, Catholic Missions, (London, 1891); Fauvell, Nos missionaires, patriotes et savantes (Paris, 1900); Michie, Political Obstacles to Missionary Success in China (Hong-Kong, 1901).

 

HENRI CORDIER

Transcribed by M. Donahue

 

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume III

Copyright © 1908 by Robert Appleton Company

Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight

Nihil Obstat, November 1, 1908. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor

Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Society of Jesus

(Company of Jesus, Jesuits)

 

See also DISTINGUISHED JESUITS, JESUIT APOLOGETIC, EARLY JESUIT GENERALS, and four articles on the history of the Society: PRE-1750, 1750-1773, 1773-1814, and 1814-1912.

 

The Society of Jesus is a religious order founded by Saint Ignatius Loyola. Designated by him "The Company of Jesus" to indicate its true leader and its soldier spirit, the title was Latinized into "Societas Jesu" in the Bull of Paul III approving its formation and the first formula of its Institute ("Regimini militantis ecclesia", 27 Sept., 1540). The term "Jesuit" (of fifteenth-century origin, meaning one who used too frequently or appropriated the name of Jesus), was first applied to the society in reproach (1544-52), and was never employed by its founder, though members and friends of the society in time accepted the name in its good sense. The Society ranks among religious institutes as a mendicant order of clerks regular, that is, a body of priests organized for apostolic work, following a religious rule, and relying on alms for their support [Bulls of Pius V, "Dum indefessae", 7 July, 1571; Gregory XIII, "Ascendente Domino", 25 May, 1585].

 

As has been explained under the title "Ignatius Loyola", the founder began his self-reform, and the enlistment of followers, entirely prepossessed with the idea of the imitation of Christ, and without any plan for a religious order or purpose of attending to the needs of the days. Unexpectedly prevented from carrying out this idea, he offered his services and those of this followers to the pope, "Christ upon Earth", who at once employed him in such works as were most pressing at the moment. It was only after this and just before the first companions broke to go at the pope's command to various countries, that the resolution to found an order was taken, and that Ignatius was commissioned to draw up Constitutions. This he did slowly and methodically; first introducing rules and customs and seeing how they worked. He did not codify them for the first six years. Then three years were given to formulating laws, the wisdom of which had been proven by experiment. In the last six years of the Saint's life the Constitutions so composed were finally revised and put into practice everywhere. This sequence of events explains at once how the society, though devoted to the following of Christ, as though there were nothing else in the world to care for, is also excellently adapted to the needs of the day. It began to attend to them before it began to legislate; and its legislation was the codification of those measures which had been proved by experience to be apt to preserve its preliminary religious principle among men actually devoted to the requirements of the Church in days not unlike our own.

 

The Society was not founded with the avowed intention of opposing Protestantism. Neither the papal letters of approbation nor the Constitutions of the order mention this as the object of the new foundation. When Ignatius began to devote himself to the service of the Church, he had probably not even heard of the names of the Protestant Reformers. His early plan was rather the conversion of Mohammedans, an idea which, a few decades after the final triumph of the Christians over the Moors in Spain, must have strongly appealed to the chivalrous Spaniard. The name "Societas Jesu" had been born by a military order approved and recommended by Pius II in 1450, the purpose of which was to fight against the Turks and aid in spreading the Christian faith. The early Jesuits were sent by Ignatius first to pagan lands or to Catholic countries; to Protestant countries only at the special request of the pope and to Germany, the cradle-land of the Reformation, at the urgent solicitation of the imperial ambassador. From the very beginning the missionary labours of the Jesuits among the pagans of India, Japan, China, Canada, Central and South America were as important as their activity in Christian countries. As the object of the society was the propagation and strengthening of the Catholic faith everywhere, the Jesuits naturally endeavored to counteract the spread of Protestantism. They became the main instruments of the Counter-Reformation; the re-conquest of southern and western Germany and Austria for the Church, and the preservation of the Catholic faith in France and other countries were due chiefly to their exertions.

 

INSTITUTES, CONSTITUTIONS, LEGISLATION

 

The official publication which constitutes all the regulations of the Society, its codex legum, is entitled "Institutum Societas Jesu" of which the latest edition was issued at Rome and Florence 1869-91 (for full biography see Sommervogel, V, 75-115; IX, 609-611; for commentators see X, 705-710). The Institute contains:

 

The special Bulls and other pontifical documents approving the Society and canonically determining or regulating its various works, and its ecclesiastical standing and relations. -- Besides those already mentioned, other important Bulls are those of: Paul III, "Injunctum nobis", 14 March, 1543; Julius III, "Exposcit debitum", 21 July, 1550; Pius V, "Æquum reputamus", 17 January, 1565; Pius VII, "Solicitudo omnium ecclesiarum", 7 August, 1814, Leo XIII, "Dolemus inter alia", 13 July, 1880.

The Examen Generale and Constitutions. The Examen contains subjects to be explained to postulants and points on which they are to be examined. The Constitutions are divided into ten parts:

admission;

dismissal;

novitiate;

scholastic training;

profession and other grades of membership;

religious vows and other obligations as observed by the Society;

missions and other ministries;

congregations, local and general assemblies as a means of union and uniformity;

the general and chief superiors;

the preservation of the spirit of the Society.

Thus far in the Institute all is by Saint Ignatius, who has also added "Declarations" of various obscure parts. Then come:

Decrees of General Congregations, which have equal authority with the Constitutions;

Rules, general and particular, etc.;

Formulae or order of business for the congregations;

Ordinations of generals, which have the same authority as rules;

Instructions, some for superiors, others for those engaged in the missions or other works of the Society;

Industriae, or special counsels for superiors;

The Book of the Spiritual Exercises; and

the Ratio Studiorum, which have directive force only.

The Constitutions as drafted by Ignatius and adopted finally by the first congregation of the Society, 1558, have never been altered. Ill-informed writers have stated that Lainez, the second general, made considerable changes in the saint's conception of the order; but Ignatius' own later recension of the Constitutions, lately reproduced in facsimile (Rome, 1908), exactly agree with the text of the Constitutions now in force, and contains no word by Lainez, not even in the declarations, or glosses added to the text, which are all the work of Ignatius. The text in use in the Society is a Latin version prepared under the direction of the third congregation, and subjected to a minute comparison with the Spanish original preserved in the Society's archives, during the fourth congregation (1581).

 

These Constitutions were written after long deliberation between Ignatius and his companions in the founding of the Society, as at first it seemed to them that they might continue their work without the aid of a special Rule. They were the fruit of long experience and of serious meditation and prayer. Throughout they are inspired by an exalted spirit of charity and zeal for souls. They contain nothing unreasonable. To appreciate them, however, requires a knowledge of cannon law applied to monastic life and also of their history in the light of the times for which they were framed. Usually those who find fault with them either have never read them or else have misinterpreted them. Monod for instance, in his introduction to Böhmer's essay on the Jesuits ("Les jesuites", Paris, 1910, p. 13, 14) recalls how Michelet mistranslated the words of the Constitutions, p. VI, c. 5, obligationem ad peccatum, and made it appear that they require obedience even to the commission of sin, as if the text were obligatio ad peccandum, where the obvious meaning and purpose of the text is precisely to show that the transgression of the rules is not in itself sinful. Monod enumerates such men as Arnauld, Wolf, Lange, Ranke in the first edition of his "History", Hausser and Droysen, Philippson and Charbonnel, as having repeated the same error, although it has been refuted frequently since 1824, particularly by Gieseler, and corrected by Ranke in his second edition. Whenever the Constitutions enjoin what is already a serious moral obligation, or superiors, by virtue of their authority, impose a grave obligation, transgression is sinful; but this is true of such transgressions not only in the society but out of it. Moreover such commands are rarely given by the superiors and only when the good of the individual member or the common good imperatively demands it. The rule throughout is one of love inspired by wisdom, and must be interpreted in the spirit of charity which animates it. This is especially true of its provisions for the affectionate relations of members with superiors and with one another, by the manifestation of conscience, more or less practiced in every religious order, and by mutual correction when this may be necessary. It also applies to the methods employed to ascertain the qualification of members for various offices or ministries.

 

The chief authority is vested in the general congregation, which elects the general, and could, for certain grave causes, depose him. This body could also (although there has never yet been an occasion for so doing) add new Constitutions and abrogate old ones. Usually this congregation is convened on the occasion of the death of a general, in order to elect a successor, and to make provisions for the government and welfare of the Society. It may also be called at other times for grave reasons. It consists of the general, when alive, and his assistants, the provincials, and two deputies from each province or territorial division of the society elected by the superiors and older professed members. Thus authority in the Society eventually rests on a democratic basis. But as there is no definite time for calling the general congregation which in fact rarely occurs except to elect a new general, the exercise of authority is usually in the hands of the general, in whom is vested the fullness of administrative power, and of spiritual authority. He can do anything within the scope of the Constitutions, and can even dispense with them for good causes, though he cannot change them. He resides at Rome, and has a council of assistants, five in number at present, one each for Italy, France, Spain, and the countries of Spanish origin, one for Germany, Austria, Poland, Belgium, Hungary, Holland, and one for English-speaking countries--England, Ireland, United States, Canada, and British colonies (except India). These usually hold office until the death of the general. Should the general through age or infirmity become incapacitated for governing the Society, a vicar is chosen by a general congregation to act for him. At his death he names one so to act until the congregation can meet and elect his successor.

 

Next to him in order of authority comes the provincials, the heads of the Society, whether for an entire country, as England, Ireland, Canada, Belgium, Mexico, or, where these units are too large or too small to make convenient provinces they may be subdivided or joined together. Thus there are now four provinces in the United States: California, Maryland-New York, Missouri, New Orleans. In all there are now twenty-seven provinces. The provincial is appointed by the general, with ample administrative faculties. He too has a council of "counselors" and an "admonitor" appointed by the general. Under the provincial come the local superiors. Of these, rectors of colleges, provosts of professed houses, and masters of novices are appointed by the general; the rest by the provincial. To enable the general to make and control so many appointments, a free and ample correspondence is kept up, and everyone has the right of private communication with him. No superior, except the general, is named for life. Usually provincials and rectors of colleges hold office for three years.

 

Members of the society fall into four classes:

 

Novices (whether received as lay brothers for the domestic and temporal services of the order, or as aspirants to the priesthood), who are trained in the spirit and discipline of the order, prior to making the religious vows.

At the end of two years the novices make simple vows, and, if aspirants to the priesthood, become formed scholastics; they remain in this grade as a rule from two to fifteen years, in which time they will have completed all their studies, pass (generally) a certain period in teaching, receive the priesthood, and go through a third year of novitiate or probation (the tertianship). According to the degree of discipline and virtue, and to the talents they display (the latter are normally tested by the examination for the Degree of Doctor of Theology) they may now become formed coadjutors or professed members of the order.

Formed coadjutors, whether formed lay brothers or priests, make vows which, though not solemn, are perpetual on their part; while the Society, on its side binds itself to them, unless they should commit some grave offense.

The professed are all priests, who make, besides the three usual solemn vows of religion, a fourth, of special obedience to the pope in the matter of missions, undertaking to go wherever they are sent, without even requiring money for the journey. They also make certain additional, but non-essential, simple vows, in the matter of poverty, and the refusal of external honours. The professed of the four vows constitute the kernel of the Society; the other grades are regarded as preparatory, or as subsidiary to this. The chief offices can be held by the professed alone; and though they may be dismissed, they must be received back, if willing to comply with the conditions that may be prescribed. Otherwise they enjoy no privileges, and many posts of importance, such as the government of colleges, may be held by members of other grades. For special reasons some are occasionally professed of three vows and they have certain but not all the privileges of the other professed.

All live in community alike, as regards food, apparel, lodging, recreation, and all are alike bound by the rules of the Society.

There are no secret Jesuits. Like other orders, the Society can, if it will, make its friends participators in its prayers, and in the merits of its good works; but it cannot make them members of the order, unless they live the life of the order. There is indeed the case of St. Francis Borgia, who made some of the probations in an unusual way, outside the houses of the order. But this was in order that he might be able to conclude certain business matters and other affairs of state, and thus appear the sooner in public as a Jesuit, not that he might remain permanently outside the common life.

 

Novitiate and Training

 

Candidates for admission come not only from the colleges conducted by the Society, but from other schools. Frequently post-graduate or professional students, and those who have already begun their career in business or professional life, or even in the priesthood, apply for admission. Usually the candidate applies in person to the provincial, and if he considers him a likely subject he refers him for examination to four of the more experienced fathers. They question him about the age, health, position, occupation of his parents, their religion and good character, their dependence on his services; about his own health, obligations such as debts, or other contractual relations; his studies, qualifications, moral character, personal motives as well as the external influences that may have lead him to seek admission. The results of their questioning and of their own observation they report severally to the provincial, who weighs their opinions carefully before deciding for or against the applicant. Any notable bodily or mental defect in the candidate, serious indebtedness or other obligation, previous membership in another religious order even for a day, indicating instability of vocation, unqualifies for admission. Undue influence, particularly if exercised by members of the order, would occasion stricter scrutiny that usual into the personal motives of the applicant.

 

Candidates may enter at any time, but usually there is a fixed day each years for their admission, toward the close of the summer holidays, in order that all may begin their training, or probation, together. They spend the first ten days considering the manner of life they are to adopt, and its difficulties, the rules of the order, the obedience required of its members. They then make a brief retreat, meditating on what they have learned about the Society and examining their own motives and hopes for perserverance in the new mode of life. If all be satisfactory to them and to the superior or director who has charge of them, they are admitted as novices, wear the clerical costume (as there is no special Jesuit habit) and begin in earnest the life of members in the Society. They rise early, make a brief visit to the chapel, a meditation on some subject selected the night before, assist at Mass, review their meditation, breakfast, and then prepare for the day's routine. This consists of manual labor in or out of doors, reading books on spiritual topics, ecclesiastical history, biography, particularly of men or women distinguished for zeal and enterprise in missionary or educational fields. There is a daily conference by the master of the novices on some detail of the Institute, notes of which all are required to make, so as to be ready, when asked, to repeat the salient points.

 

Wherever it is possible some are submitted to certain tests of their vocation or usefulness; to teaching catechism in the village churches; to attendance on the sick in hospitals; to going about on a pilgrimage or missionary journey without money or other provision. As soon as possible, all make the spiritual exercises for 30 days. This is really the chief test of a vocation, as it is also in epitome the main work of the two years of the novitiate, and for that matter of the entire life of a Jesuit. On these exercises the Constitutions, the life, and activity of the Society are based, so they are really the chief factor in forming the character of a Jesuit. In accordance with the ideals set forth in these exercises, of disinterested conformity with God's will, and of personal love of Jesus Christ, the novice is trained diligently in the meditative study of the truths of religion, in the habit of self-knowledge, in the constant scrutiny of his motives and of the actions inspired by them, in the correction of every form of self-deceit, illusion, plausible pretext, and in the education of his will, particularly in making choice of what seems best after careful deliberation and without self-seeking. Deeds, not words, are insisted upon as proof of genuine service, and a mechanical, emotional, or fanciful piety is not tolerated. As the novice gradually thus becomes master of his will, he grows more and more capable of offering to God the reasonable service enjoined by St. Paul, and seeks to follow the divine will, as manifested in Jesus Christ, by His vicar on earth, by the bishops appointed to rule His Church, by his more immediate or religious superiors, and by the civil powers rightfully exercising authority. This is what is meant by Jesuit obedience, the characteristic virtue of the order, such a sincere respect for authority as to accept its decisions and comply with them, not merely by outward performance but in all sincerity with the conviction that compliance is best, and that the command expresses for the time the will of God, as nearly as it can be ascertained.

 

The noviceship lasts two years. On its completion the novice makes the usual vows of religion, the simple vow of chastity in the Society having the force of a diriment impediment to matrimony. During the noviceship but a brief time daily is devoted to reviewing previous studies. The noviceship over, the scholastic members, i.e., those who are to become priests in the Society, follow a special course in classics and mathematics lasting two years, usually in the same house with the novices. Then, in another house and neighbourhood, three years are given to the study of philosophy, about five years to teaching in one or other of the public colleges of the Society, four years to the study of theology, priestly orders being conferred after the third, and finally, one year more to another probation or noviceship, intended to help the young priest renew his spirit of piety and to learn how to utilize to the best of his ability all the learning and experience he has required. In exceptional cases, as in that of a priest who has finished his studies before entering the order, allowance is made and the training periods need not last over ten years, a good part of which is spent in active ministry.

 

The object of the order is not limited to practicing any one class of good works, however laudable (as preaching, chanting office, doing penance, etc.), but to study, in the manner of the Spiritual Exercises, what Christ would have done, if He were living in our circumstances, and to carry out that ideal. Hence elevation and largeness of aim. Hence the motto of the Society, "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam". Hence the selection of the virtue of obedience as the characteristic of the order, to be ready for any call, and to keep unity in every variety of work. Hence, by easy sequence, the omission of office in choir, of a special distinctive habit, of unusual penances. Where the Protestant reformers aimed at reorganizing the church at large according to their particular conceptions, Ignatius began with interior self-reform; and after that had been thoroughly established, then the earnest preaching of self-reform to others. That done, the church would not, and did not, fail to reform herself. Many religious distinguished themselves as educators before the Jesuits; but the Society was the first order which enjoined by its very Constitutions devotion to the cause of education. It was, in this sense, the first "teaching order".

 

The ministry of the Society consists chiefly in preaching; teaching catechism, especially to children; administering the sacraments especially penance and the Eucharist; conducting missions in the parishes on the lines of the Spiritual Exercises; directing those who wish to follow those exercises in houses of retreat, seminaries or convents; taking care of parishes or collegiate churches; organizing pious confraternities, sodalities, unions of prayer, Bona Mors associations in their own and other parishes; teaching in schools of every grade--academic; seminary, university; writing books, pamphlets, periodical articles; going on foreign missions among uncivilized peoples. In liturgical functions the Roman Rite is followed. The proper exercise of all these functions is provided for by rules carefully framed by the general congregations or by the generals. All these regulations command the greatest respect on the part of every member. In practice the superior for the time being is the living rule--not that he can alter or abrogate any rule, but because he must interpret and determine its application. In this fact and in its consequences, the Society differs from every religious order antecedent to its foundation; to this principally, it owes its life, activity, and power to adapt its Institutes to modern conditions without need of change in that instrument or of reform in the body itself.

 

The story of the foundation of the Society is told in the article Ignatius Loyola. Briefly, after having inspired his companions Peter Faber, Francis Xavier, James Lainez, Alonso Samerón, Nicolas Bobadilla, Simon Rodriquez, Claude Le Jay, Jean Codure, and Paschase Brouet with a desire to dwell in the Holy Land imitating the life of Christ, they first made vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris, on 15 August, 1534, adding a vow to go to the Holy Land after two years. When this was found to be inpracticable, after waiting another year, they offered their services to the pope, Paul III. Fully another year was passed by some in university towns in Italy, by others at Rome, where, after encountering much opposition and slander, all met together to agree on a mode of life by which they might advance in evangelical perfection and help others in the same task. The first formula of the Institute was submitted to the pope and approved of viva voce, 3 September 1539, and formally, 27 September, 1540.