A Study Of Catholic Confucian Ethics In The Rites Controversy

During the transition from Ming to Qing Dynasty,missionaries in China had two opposing attitudes towards Chinese funeral and sacrificial rites,and gradually formed the "Rites Controversy",which discussed whether Chinese rites were "heresy".As the debate heated up,in the face of the doubts and criticisms of the mendicative order,Catholic Confucians actively cooperated with the Jesuits in order to safeguard Chinese etiquette.Based on their cultural position and knowledge structure,they gave full play to their years of accumulation of classics,flexibly applied the idea of "suppleming Confucianism with Confucianism",and wrote a large number of "defense works" with distinct ideas.The issue of the Rites Controversy is one of the focal points of the debate on Chinese sacrificial rites.In ancient China,sacrificial rites were an indispensable part of everyone’s life.For Confucians,sacrifice is the ritual festival that they attach great importance to.But the puritans saw Chinese cults as "heresy" against Catholicism,and were particularly critical of the Jesuits’ tolerance of "heresy." In response to this,Catholic Confucians,represented by Li Jiugong,Xia Dachang and Yan Mo,responded positively.First,with the help of ancient classics,they elaborated the meaning of "sacrifice" and sorted out the ceremony of "sacrifice".From their definition of "sacrifice",we can see that "sacrifice" and "sacrifice" are not against the Catholic doctrine.Secondly,he analyzed in detail the "real" purpose of offering sacrifices to ancestors,Confucius and gods.They believe that ancestor worship is the embodiment of "death like life,to pursue filial piety,to report the reverse beginning",in line with the Catholic commandment people "to honor their parents".Instead of believing that the gods of the ancestors were attached to the owner of the wood,the owner of the wood and the family temple were set up to facilitate the children to "see things and think about their loved ones".Offering sacrifices to Confucius is to express gratitude for the virtues of teachers and to ease customs,not to "seek happiness".As for the worship of the gods,most of them belong to the folk sacrificial rituals,and it is not worth mentioning.In a word,the Catholic Confucians believed that the ritual of sacrificing ancestors to Confucius was not forbidden,and that missionaries should integrate "Chinese stories" with "Chinese principles",which would help the spread of Catholicism in China and achieve a benign interaction between "Jesuits and Confucians".Another bone of contention in the "Rites Controversy" is the issue of funeral etiquette in China.The opposition argues that Chinese funeral rites are filled with mystical powers and religious overtones that clearly contradict Catholic monotheism.The Catholic Confucians explained the various funeral rites in question.They believe that the "first death ceremony" includes filial piety and the desire to bear the death of loved ones,the "bath after death" is intended to clean the body of the dead loved ones,and the "food after death" is the desire to die with nothing in the mouth of loved ones.These ceremonies are human,not religious.As for the "burning gold and silver paper ingot","the straw man was buried","choose feng shui treasure land" category,is due to the two Buddhism Kuanghua people increasingly deep caused by confusion,is also contrary to the Chinese orthodox etiquette,should be banned together.According to the special status and experience of the Catholic Confucians,they have created a unique "world of ritual and custom".Of course,the formation of the concept of rites and customs of the clergy did not happen overnight,but under the background of the century-long "Rites Controversy",it began with the "exchange and dialogue between eastern and Western cultures",took the "tacit understanding" between Jesuits and Confucians as the engine,and took the "dialogue" between sacred belief and secular power as the guide.With the formation of the concept of ritual and custom of those who serve priests gradually clear,the essential connotation of the concept of ritual and custom of those who serve Catholic Confucians suddenly becomes clear,which can be summarized into three points: first,adhere to Confucianism as the main body,and promote the rational interaction of "Yerism and Confucianism";Second,it is based on classical interpretation and oriented to modern scientific thinking.The third is to attach importance to traditional funeral rites and reject folk Buddhism and Taoism.