| Francis Xavier,who came to Asia in the 16th.century,is a representative figure who plays a unique role in the history of Catholicism missionary to the East,and also has great influence on the cultural communication history between the East and the West.As one of the founders of the Society of Jesus,the first missionary arriving in Asia,and also the first member of the Society of Jesus who was canonized,Francis Xavier’s adventurous passion in the mission,and his flexibility in adjusting strategies have exerted profound influence on missionary strategies and operation patterns of the Society of Jesus and other societies.Anyone who overlooks the study of Francis Xavier will not only prevent himself from understanding the essence of Catholic missionary in the East,but also lose the opportunity to get profound investigation in the complexity and internal conflicts between different religions and cultural systems between the East and the West.Academic researches witness tremendous differences due to different interpretations on Francis Xavier.There are abundant researches on him in the West because people worship him as one of the founders and also as a Saint.However,the stereotyped portrait of him as a great missionary or saint is always mingled with strong religious emotion or exaggerated acclaim of his virtues.On the contrary,since Francis Xavier didn’t ever arrive in mainland China,the related studies on him was rare.In most works,Francis Xavier is ignored by scholars,and is regarded as one unimportant pioneer who announced the entrance of main characters such as Matteo Ricci.Under such circumstances,by picturing the great influential events happened in times of Francis Xavier chronologically,the paper involves itself into studying Francis Xavier’s missionary operations,strategies,and plans,analyzing his efforts and contributions in the early linguistic contacts,religious dialogues between the East and West,as well as the localization of clergies.The paper will also discuss that Francis Xavier,as a missionary who was entrusted by the King of Portugal,took what kind of behavior modes,encountered what kind of problems in his missionary tasks,and finally took what kind of measures.At the same time,this paper focuses on four aspects,namely strategies in the missionary,Francis Xavier and local languages,recognition of local religion,and missionary assistants.Chapter two and Chapter three discuss the missionary events and strategies of Francis Xavier in India and Japan,focusing on what problems he ran into with local language,religion,and assistants,and how he solved those problems.Chapter four analyzes his plan in China and the Far East,as well as the complex international environment and difficulty in the missionary work reflected in his failure in China.Chapter five gives a deeper analysis on problems mentioned in previous three chapters,such as language,religion,assistants,strategies,and features of missionary operations in magisterium and imperial power.Based on these analysis and discussions,the paper first recognizes the contribution of Francis Xavier as the founder and pioneer of the missionary work in the Far East conducted by the Society of Jesus.His comprehensive understanding of Japan and his passion of spreading the religion in China,as well as his flexibility and adjustment to local cultural environment have determined the direction of future missionary operation of the society in these Asian countries.Secondly,his attempt in learning local language,translating missionary works,contacting local religions,converting these religious followers,and training local people as assistants all have significant influence on the format and content of cultural exchanges between the east and west.Thirdly,his efforts in trying to strike a balance between religious power and imperial power,and in all his missionary operations under the high pressure in the feudal society,his flexibility,and even his failure have provided valuable experiences and lessons for the missionaries after him. |
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