2004 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Catholic and Protestant Mission s" Publishing Activities in East Asia
| Project/Area Number |
13021225
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Review Section |
Humanities and Social Sciences
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| Research Institution | KYOTO UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
TAKATA Tokio Kyoto University, Institute for Research in Humanities, Professor, 人文科学研究所, 教授 (60150249)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2001 – 2004
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| Keywords | Catholic Missions / Zhifang Waiji / Guangzhou Tongji / prohibited book |
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| Research Abstract |
In this study a manuscript entitled "Guangzhou Tongji", which is now preserved in Japan, was taken up as an example of how the publication of Catholic mission had been accepted. This manuscript is in fact a rearranged edition of "Zhifang Waiji" written by a Jesuit missionary Julio Aleni, and so it has a close relation with mission's publishing activities. "Zhifang Waiji" had been condemned to be a prohibited book in Japan until Tokugawa Yoshimune, 8th Shogun, lifted ban on it in the period of Kyoho, and even after that very few people knew the lifting of the ban, consequently "Zhifang Waiji" was circulated in form of a manuscript. This book, which gives an admirable resume of the world geography, was welcomed by the public and widely read in the period of national isolation. We can see the circumstances through the fact that many manuscript copies are extant even now. And the fact that "Zhifang Waiji" is found in the collection of such a lending library as Daoso (Onoya Sohachi) tells u
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s that the book acquired a wide group of readers increasingly as time passed. By the way, the manuscript in question replaced the title of the "Zhifang Waiji" to "Guangzhou Tongji" which recalled a local gazetteer in order to escape a police control. Looking into the manuscript more in detail, we find that it incorporates some passages both from "Kunyu Tushuo" of Verbiest and from "Haiyu" of Huang Shang on the basis of the text of "Zhifan Waiji". Slightly changed preface of "Haiyu" was adopted instead of those of the books by the Jesuit missionaries in caution of the anti-Christian policy of the shogunate. The manuscript deletes or changed very carefully such expressions as Tenshu-do (church), Yaso (Jesus) and so on which are concerned with Christianism. Catholic missions' publishing activities were very active in China, but it was inevitable that their books often suffered persecution. Even non-religious works could not be exceptions. In Japan, the persecution was much more severe and therefore "Zhifang Waiji" was forced to disguise itself in order to be put into circulation. This manuscript is a good example which shows the limitation of publishing activities executed by catholic missionaries. Less
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