Li Yingshi ( zh, t=李應試, s=李应试, first=t, referred to by Jesuits as Li Paul; fl. ca. 1600) was a
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
Chinese military officer, scientist,
astrologer
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...
and ''
feng shui'' practicer that was converted to Christianity. He was converted to Catholicism by
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 ...
and
Diego de Pantoja
Diego de Pantoja or Diego Pantoja ( Chinese: 龐迪我, ''Pang Diwo''; April 1571, Valdemoro, Spain – January 1618, Portuguese Macau, China) was a Spanish Jesuit and missionary to China who is best known for having accompanied Matteo Ricci in Be ...
, the first two
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
to establish themselves in Beijing. He then became a zealous Christian.
Early life
Li Yingshi was a member of the Chinese
literati
Literati may refer to:
*Intellectuals or those who love, read, and comment on literature
*The scholar-official or ''literati'' of imperial/medieval China
**Literati painting, also known as the southern school of painting, developed by Chinese liter ...
class. He commanded a unit of 500 soldiers during the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
of 1592–98.
[Gallagher (trans) (1953), pp. 433–437] He was awarded a lifetime pension by the
Wanli government, which was to continue to be paid to his heirs in perpetuity.
During peacetime, he studied
astrology
Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...
and
geomancy.
Conversion
In the meantime, in 1601 the
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
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 ...
and
Diego de Pantoja
Diego de Pantoja or Diego Pantoja ( Chinese: 龐迪我, ''Pang Diwo''; April 1571, Valdemoro, Spain – January 1618, Portuguese Macau, China) was a Spanish Jesuit and missionary to China who is best known for having accompanied Matteo Ricci in Be ...
became the first
Christian missionaries
A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...
to be settled in the
Ming
The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
capital. They appreciated
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
learning and wanted to establish good relations with the Chinese
literati
Literati may refer to:
*Intellectuals or those who love, read, and comment on literature
*The scholar-official or ''literati'' of imperial/medieval China
**Literati painting, also known as the southern school of painting, developed by Chinese liter ...
, but strongly disparaged the "ridiculous wizardry" of Chinese occult practices.
[ This is why, perhaps, Ricci described the Jesuits' conversion of Li Yingshi to Christianity – which was accomplished on the Feast of ]St Matthew
Matthew the Apostle,, shortened to ''Matti'' (whence ar, مَتَّى, Mattā), meaning "Gift of YHWH"; arc, , Mattai; grc-koi, Μαθθαῖος, ''Maththaîos'' or , ''Matthaîos''; cop, ⲙⲁⲧⲑⲉⲟⲥ, Mattheos; la, Matthaeus a ...
(i.e., September 21) of 1602 – as nothing less than "extraordinary".[
Once Li became a Christian, it took him, Ricci, and de Pantoja three days to go through his "beautiful and well stocked library" to identify all books and manuscripts "forbidden by ecclesiastical regulations". The forbidden books and manuscripts, mostly dealing with the "art of divination" were then ]burned
Burned or burnt may refer to:
* Anything which has undergone combustion
* Burned (image), quality of an image transformed with loss of detail in all portions lighter than some limit, and/or those darker than some limit
* ''Burnt'' (film), a 2015 ...
, some at Li's own courtyard and others at the Beijing Mission House, to demonstrate Li's commitment to Christianity.[ This apparently was not an uncommon practice in Ricci's day: when another celebrated convert, the mathematician Ignatius Qu Taisu (瞿太素; ''Chiutaiso'' in Ricci's transcription) became Christian, he also sent his library of books on "the dogma of the sects" to the Nanjing Mission House to be burned, along with book printing plates and non-Christian religious statues.
Li Yingshi became a zealous member of the Catholic church. He proselytized among his friends and relatives, and got all his servants to join the church as well. He had a chapel built at his home and had his son study at the Beijing Mission House, so that soon enough the young Li was able to celebrate ]Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
himself.[
As a person highly knowledgeable about the "sect of idol worshippers",][Although Ricci is aware about the difference between ]Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
and Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
, he does not specify explicitly what religion Li had been an adherent of before his conversion Li was able to supply the Jesuits with a large amount of information that they found helpful in converting other non-Christians.[
]
See also
* Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism The Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism (聖教三柱石, literally the "Holy Religion's Three Pillar-Stones") refer to three Chinese converts to Christianity, during the 16th and 17th century Jesuit China missions:
* Xú Guāngqǐ (Wade–Giles ...
References
Citations
Sources
* Trigault, Nicolas S. J. "China in the Sixteenth Century: The Journals of Mathew Ricci: 1583–1610". English translation by Louis J. Gallagher
Louis J. Gallagher, SJ (July 22, 1885 – August 1972) was an American Jesuit, known for his educational and literary work.
Biography
Born in Boston, Louis J. Gallagher entered the Society of Jesus on August 15, 1905, was ordained as a priest in ...
, S.J. of Trigault and Ricci's '' De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas''. New York, NY: Random House, Inc. 1953.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li Yingshi
Converts to Roman Catholicism
Chinese Roman Catholics
Jesuit China missions
16th-century Chinese mathematicians
17th-century Chinese mathematicians
Chinese mathematicians
Ming dynasty scholars