英文摘要 |
During the Wanli 萬曆 era of the Ming dynasty, many active ideologists and educationists belonged to the Yangming school 陽明後學, including Zhang Huang 章潢, Li Zhi 李贄, Zhu Shilu 祝世祿, Jiao Hong 焦竑, Zou Yuanbiao 鄒元標 and Feng Yingjing 馮應京 etc. It was at this time that Matteo Ricci became known as the first man to introduce Western culture. The interaction and exchange between them paints an historical picture of the earliest period of Sino-Western cultural exchange that took place between Confucian scholars and Christian missionaries in the late Ming, as one of meetings, direct dialogue, and the forming of friendships. Zhang Huang of the Wang school of Jiangyou 江右王門, who was in charge of the Bailudong Academy of Classical Learning 白鹿洞書院, frequently invited Ricci for discussions, fierce debates and brainstorming sessions with young scholars in the academy. Li Zhi from the Wang school of Taizhou 泰州王門 met Matteo Ricci for the first time in the city of Nanjing 南京, and again later in Jining 濟寧. They exchanged what they had learned in the course of their reading and discussed their views on human affairs, cherishing every moment in each other’s company. Another distinguished official and literary man of that school was Zhu Shilu, who apart from lending Ricci his kind assistance in promoting his missionary work in Nanjing, personally issued him a ticket giving him passage to Beijing and gave his fervent support to Ricci to enter the capital and pay imperial tribute. Jiao Hong, yet another leader in academic circles and early advocate of multicultural thinking, was also in close contact with Ricci, which spurred exchange between Ricci and the scholarly classes. Zou Yuanbiao of the Wang school of Jiangyou interpreted the Western concepts of heavenly studies 天學 from the point of view the traditional Chinese idea of respecting heaven 敬天. Zou’s disciple Feng Yingjing kept close acquaintance with Ricci in order to learn Western knowledge and also sent his disciples to study with him. Feng funded the publication of Ricci’s book Tianzhu shiyi 天主實義 and sold it to the public, drawing the attention of education and religious circles in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The friendship and exchange between Ricci and the Yangming school had at least two implications. First, it established the practice of progressive academic exchange between Ricci and the literati; second, the growth of foreign culture came to rely on the support of the corresponding local culture and figures in academic circles. |