Candida Xu or Candida Su ( zh, t=許徐甘弟大, w=Hsü3-Hsü2 Kan1-ti4-ta4, p=Xǔ-Xú Gāndìdà; September 4, 1607 – July 24, 1680), was a
Chinese Catholic
The Catholic Church in China (called Tiānzhǔ Jiào, 天主敎, literally "Religion of the Lord of Heaven" after the Chinese term for the Christian God) has a long and complicated history. John of Montecorvino was the first Roman Catholic ...
. She has been called "arguably the most influential Chinese Christian woman of the seventeenth century."
Biography
Born on the feast day of Saint
Candida the Elder, in whose honor she was named, Xu was the granddaughter of
Xu Guangqi
Xu Guangqi or Hsü Kuang-ch'i (April 24, 1562– November 8, 1633), also known by his baptismal name Paul, was a Chinese agronomist, astronomer, mathematician, politician, and writer during the Ming dynasty. Xu was a colleague and collaborato ...
, who had converted to Christianity four years previously. From childhood she was deeply religious. Widowed at 46, she turned her attention to service to the church. Despite the restrictions she faced given her status as a member of the upper class, she worked to spread the word of Christianity. She exercised the influence of her father and son to gain good will for many
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionaries among local officials. Among Chinese Christians she promoted her spiritual associations; she also acted as a leader for Christian women around
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
. She had a private income, from which she donated generously to finance living arrangements for missionaries; she also funded the building of close to forty churches and chapels, and facilitated publication of many religious works in the
Chinese language
Chinese (, especially when referring to written Chinese) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and many minority ethnic groups in Greater China. About 1.3 billion people (or approximately 16% of the wor ...
. She helped the
Catholic Church in Sichuan
The presence of the Catholic Church in the Chinese province of Sichuan (formerly romanized as Szechwan or Szechuan in English; and Sutchuen, Setchuen, Sétchouan in French; la, Ecclesia Catholica in Seciuen) dates back to 1640, when two mission ...
search for surviving converts after the devastation wrought by
Zhang Xianzhong
Zhang Xianzhong (张献忠 or Chang Hsien-chung; 18 September 1606 – 2 January 1647), nickname Huanghu (literally 'Yellow Tiger'), was a Chinese peasant leader who led a peasant revolt from Yan'an wei, Shaanxi (today Yulin, Shaanxi province) ...
. She was referred to as the Apostle of China by many.
Her story gained currency in Europe through a biography by
Philippe Couplet, her confessor.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Candida
1607 births
1680 deaths
Chinese Roman Catholics
Chinese women philanthropists
Chinese philanthropists
17th-century philanthropists
17th-century Chinese women
17th-century Chinese people