Gifted Respect Confucian Thought Of Christian Love Days

For belief is involved in a history and a reality, it is necessary to analyze the historical social environment, cultural policies and cultural atmosphere of the late Ming and early Qing period for studying Confucian Christians’religious believes of the period. The cultural atmosphere laid a foundation for the introduction of Catholicism and its acceptance by Confucians. Consequently, the formation of Confucian Christians was not incidental. Meanwhile, in the process of cross-culture spread, spreaders’grasp and interpretation of culture classics and the various strategies applied by them would influence the process, and Matteo Ricci’s missionary strategy made it possible for the Catholic thought to be blended into the late Ming society. Therefore, the formation of Confucian Christians was not inevitable entirely.It was in such a situation that Catholicism was introduced through replaying as a kind of Confucian traditional classics interpretation by missionaries represented by Michele Ruggieri and Matteo Ricci adapting to the policy then and was accepted by a group of Confucians then through reflecting their own needs, being convinced and absorbing Catholicism at last. The cultural spread process is a kind of replay and self-creation of religious belief. During it, having been interpreted twice by two groups of people with different status and cultural background, Catholicism was changed its former feature and replayed into a religion belief suitable for the literati and officialdom then to pursue practice learning and became a system itself. The replay and absorption of western learning as well as the complement and modification to Confucianism added the fresh blood to the Confucianism of the late Ming period, enriched the period’religion system and played a role in promoting the social thought development then.The charm and the fundamental aim of history study is in reflecting the past to brighten now, which tells why the belief thought of the Confucian Christians in the period should be annalized. Owing to Confucian Christians, the group of literati and officialdom during the period of late Ming and early Qing, Catholicism belief enabled to peacefully talk and merge with Confucianism, thus forming the special Confucian Christian belief existing in the folk society of China. Even when the religion-prohibiting policy was carried out in the Qing dynasty, the Catholicism in folk society didn’t disappear. On the contrary, it continued to develop and merge with Chinese traditional culture and folk believes. In present, our country is in another transitional period, faith deficiency and immorality phenomenons have become the truth. Confucianism, though open with a new way, is still in the decline. However, Christianism of the period develops very fast, which shouldn’t be treated by scholars as a pessimistic fact, but as a belief’s self-recovery and innovation. In the process, though the advocation and respect like those of the literati and officialdom in the late Ming period are missing, religious groups can still take such religious practices like those by the literati and officialdom in the late Ming period, pursue modernization according to their doctrines and social practices, meanwhile, providing some references and norms from such aspects as social care, etc. Consequently, study on Confucian Christians’belief in the late Ming and early Qing period is of significance to the modernization transition of Confucianism and other religions as well as the communication among various religions.