This book offers a study of the cosmogonic works by Fr. Angelo Zottoli S.J., a Jesuit missionary who has received relatively little attention by modern scholars, but who deserves a special recognition for his theological and philosophical ideas. More generally, the book aims to shed light on the importance of cosmogony in the cross-cultural and interdisciplinary environment of Xujiahui, the area in modern Shanghai where Zottoli flourished. It shows how through Zottoli’s teaching and sermons he was able to reimagine his own cosmogonic ideas, his personality, and his relationship with local Chinese converts. Among Zottoli’s most famous students was Ma Xiangbo (馬相伯 1840–1939) and Zottoli played a crucial role in Ma’s intellectual formation.
A wider familiarity with Zottoli’s works is not only interesting in and of itself, but also paves the way to future studies on the complex and multifaceted relationship between European missionaries and Chinese students in Shanghai during the nineteenth century.
Author(s): Antonio De Caro
Series: Christianity in Modern China
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 188
City: Cham
Preface
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
1 Angelo Zottoli and His Mission
1.1 Background
1.2 The Jesuit Mission in Zi-Ka-Wei 徐家匯: The Restoration of Old Memories
1.3 Angelo Zottoli: A Brief Biography
2 The Labyrinth of Zi-Ka-Wei
2.1 Those Who Love Their Life Lose It: Zottoli’s Mission and His Views on Cosmogony
2.1.1 Divergent Views on Cosmogony: Zottoli’s Major Challenge
2.2 My reflection on Cross-Cultural Hermeneutics
2.2.1 Doing (Cross-Cultural) Philosophy: Paideia Παιδεία (Education) and Xiu Shen 修身 (Self-Cultivation)
2.3 Jesuit Spirituality and Zottoli’s Spiritual Formation
2.4 A Complex Heritage: Jesuit Missions in China from the 15th to the 19th centuries
2.4.1 Ricci’s Critique of Neo-Confucianism
2.4.2 The Figurists and Their Acceptance of Neo-Confucianism
2.5 James Legge and Angelo Zottoli: A Tale of Two 19th Century Sinologists
2.6 Zottoli’s Hermeneutics
2.7 Toward a Closer Examination of Zottoli’s Cosmogony
3 A Cosmogonic Journey: Zottoli’s Works and Ideas About the Cosmos
3.1 Introductory Note
3.2 The Cursus (1879–1882)
3.2.1 Contemporary Reception of the Cursus
3.2.2 Cosmogonic Ideas in the Cursus and the Presentation of Neo-Confucian Cosmogony
3.2.2.1 The Jesuit Understanding of taiji 太極: The Example of François Noël (Wei Fanji 衛方濟, 1651–1729)
3.2.3 On Early Confucian Cosmogony
4 Zottoli’s Works in Dialogue with Chinese Culture and Jesuit Spirituality
4.1 Nanjing Catechism (1892)
4.2 Ascetic Nomenclature (1877)
4.3 Uncertain Clues on Zottoli’s Philosophical Positions in the Cursus (1879–1882)
4.4 The Latin-Chinese Dictionary (Dictionarium Latino-Sinicum, C.A. 1902)
4.5 Remarks on these Other Texts on Roman Catholic Spirituality and Chinese Philosophy
5 The Qu Pi Xun Meng 取譬訓蒙 (1869–1870) and a summary of Zottoli’s Chinese Roman Catholic Cosmogony
6 The Fifth Chapter of the Qu Pi Xun Meng and Zottoli’s Main Cosmogonic Ideas
6.1 An English Translation of selections from the Fifth Chapter of the Qu Pi Xun Meng
6.2 Philosophical and Terminological Reflections on the Fifth Chapter of the Qu Pi Xun Meng
6.2.1 On the Term hua cheng 化成 (Completed Transformation)
6.2.2 Preservation of the Cosmos and Eternal Creation (Zai zao 再造)
6.2.3 God as the Ruler (Wang 王): A Possible Influence from Ricci’s Tianzhu Shiyi 天主實義
7 The Sixth Chapter of the Qu Pi Xun Meng: The Role of Humans in the Cosmos and the Nature of Evil
7.1 English Translation of Selected Parts of the Sixth Chapter of the Qu Pi Xun Meng
7.2 Philosophical and Terminological Reflections on the Sixth Chapter of the Qu Pi Xun Meng
7.2.1 Tian Di 天地 (Heaven and Earth): Angels Inhabit Heaven While Humans Inhabit Earth
7.2.2 The Role of Humans in Cosmogony and the Nature of Evil
7.3 Further Remarks on the Qu Pi Xun Meng
7.4 The Context of Zi-ka-wei and the Qu Pi Xun Meng: The Works of the Figurists on Neo-confucianism and Zottoli’s Innovation
7.5 Conclusion
8 Crossroads of Dreams and Hopes
8.1 A Journey Between Meng 蒙 (“Youthful” Ignorance) and Meng 夢 (Dream): Zottoli’s Approach to Cosmogony
8.1.1 Meng 蒙 (“Youthful” Ignorance): Zottoli as an Educator
8.1.2 Meng 夢 (Dream): Zottoli as a Creative Jesuit Missionary
8.2 Zottoli’s Vision Beyond Cosmogony
8.2.1 Zottoli’s Cross-Cultural Hermeneutics: A Different Approach
8.2.2 Was Zottoli a Colonizer?
8.2.3 A Vision Embedded in the Community
Bibliography
Primary Sources with annotations
Published and unpublished works by Angelo Zottoli:
Works about Zottoli
Secondary Literature
European Philosophy and European Studies
Jesuit Studies (Excluding Studies on Jesuits in China)
Roman Catholic Theology
Chinese Philosophy and Chinese Studies
History of Christianity in China (Including Works of Jesuit Missionaries on Chinese Philosophy and Science)
History of Zi-Ka-Wei and Shanghai
Miscellanea
Index
