Giulio Aleni ( la, Julius Alenius; 1582– 10 June 1649), in Chinese , was an Italian
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
and
scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
. He was born in Leno near
Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...
in Italy, at the time part of the Republic of Venice, and died at
Yanping in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. He became a member of the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
in 1600 and distinguished himself in his knowledge of
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
. He is known for helping publish the
Zhifang Waiji, an atlas in Chinese. Giulio Aleni also wrote a treatise criticizing the Ming dynasty, the Ming emperors and their elites, and their mistakes and errors. Near the end of his life, the Ming dynasty eventually got destroyed and replaced by the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
founded by the
House of Aisin-Gioro
The House of Aisin-Gioro was a Manchu clan that ruled the Later Jin dynasty (1616–1636), the Qing dynasty (1636–1912), and Manchukuo (1932–1945) in the history of China. Under the Ming dynasty, members of the Aisin Gioro clan served as c ...
.
[John Witek, S.J. "Aleni, Giulio, in Gerald Anderson, ed., ''Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions'' (Erdmans, ) pp. 9-10]
Life
In 1610, he was sent as a missionary to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. While waiting at
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
for a favorable opportunity to enter the country he taught mathematics to local scholars and published his "Observation sur l'éclipse de lune du 8 Novembre 1612, faite a Macao" (''Mémoires de l'Acad. des Sciences'', VII, 706).
He adopted the dress and manners of the country, was the first Christian missionary in
Jiangxi
Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
, and built several churches in
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
. One of his converts, Li Jiubiao, recorded the responses of Aleni and
Andrius Rudamina
Andrius Rudamina, S.J. ( la, Andreas Rudamina; pl, Andrzej Rudomina; 1596 – 5 September 1631) was the first Lithuanian Jesuit missionary in China.
Early life
Andrius Rudamina was born into an old and distinguished Lithuanian noble family in ...
, one of his fellow Jesuits, to the questions and speculations of his parishioners and compiled them into a journal.
Works
He published works in Chinese on a variety of topics. His cosmography,
Wanwu Zhenyuan' (萬物真原; The True Origin of the Ten-thousand Things), was translated into
Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
during the reign of the
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...
(Wanwu Zhenyuan translated in
Manchu script
The Manchu alphabet ( mnc, m=, v=manju hergen, a=manju hergen) is the alphabet used to write the now nearly-extinct Manchu language. A similar script is used today by the Xibe people, who speak a language considered either as a dialect of Ma ...
: Wylie: Tumen chakai unengki sekiyen,
Möllendorff: Tumen jakai unengki sekiyen). A copy was sent from
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
to Paris in 1789. He completed the work of earlier Jesuit scholars to produce the ''
Zhifang waiji'', a global atlas written in Chinese and one of the first to include the Americas.
Among his most important religious works are a controversial treatise on the Catholic Faith, in which are refuted what he saw as the principal errors of the Ming dynasty; and ''The Life of God, the Saviour, from the Four Gospels'' (Peking, 1635–1637, 8 vols.; often reprinted, e.g. in 1887 in 3 vols) and used even by Protestant missionaries.
Legacy
The life and works of Giulio Aleni are the subject of several conferences in 1994 and 2010. Two of his books, ''Life of
Matteo Ricci
Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italians, Italian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He create ...
, Xitai of the West'' and ''Holy images of the Heavenly Lord'' have been presented to the public by ''Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana'' in two separate occasions, on 13 and 25 October 2010.
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
* Menegon, Eugenio. "Un solo Cielo. Giulio Aleni S.J. (1582-1649). Geografia, arte, scienza, religione dall’Europa alla Cina". Brescia: Grafo, 1994.
* John Witek, S.J.
Aleni, Giulio in Gerald Anderson, ed., ''Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions'' (Erdmans, 1999), pp. 9–10
* Lippiello, Tiziana, and Roman Malek. ''Scholar from the West: Giulio Aleni S.J. (1582-1649) and the Dialogue between Christianity and China''. Brescia: Sankt Augustin: Fondazione civiltà bresciana; Monumenta Serica Institute, 1997.
*Sommervogel, Carlos, ''Bibliothèque de la Campagnie de Jesus'', I, 157 sq.
*Pfister, S.J., ''Bibliogr. des Jesuites Chinois miss.''
*Cordier, ''Essai d'une bibliogr. des ouvr. publ. en Chine par les Europeéns'' (Paris 1883).
*ALENI, Giulio, Geografia dei paesi stranieri alla Cina. Zhifang waiji, with translation (Italian), Introduction and commentary by Paolo De Troia, Brescia, Fondazione Civiltà Bresciana/Centro Giulio Aleni, 2009, with a full Map of ten thousand countries (Wangguo quantu)
*Ahn Jaewon, A comparative research on Cicero's orator perfectus and Confucius' rex perfectus( Papers on Rhetoric 10)
* Song, Gang. ''Giulio Aleni, Kouduo richao, and Christian-Confucian Dialogism in Late Ming Fujian'' (艾儒略、「口鐸日抄」及晚明福建的耶儒對話主義), Monumenta Serica Monograph Series LXIX. Abingdon, Oxon – New York: Routledge, 2018.
;Attribution
*
External links
Life and passion of Christ Digital facsimile of Aleni's ca. 1640 printing from
Houghton Library
Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of Art ...
, Harvard University.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aleni, Giulio
1582 births
1649 deaths
Religious leaders from Brescia
17th-century Italian historians
17th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians
Jesuit missionaries in China
17th-century Italian astronomers
17th-century Italian Jesuits
Jesuit scientists
Scientists from Brescia