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Tao Yuanming once wrote a poem with such a sentence, "Life has no roots, it floats like a stranger to dust", this poem exhausts the impermanence of life, and the smallness of being born as a human being. In fact, for ordinary Chinese, home or hometown is the place where the leaves fall back to their roots, and it is a place where they can live with peace of mind.
For foreigners who have traveled thousands of miles to China to preach, hometown is a very distant word, and what supports their living in a strange continent is the belief in mission and the belief in God's piety. John Tang was such a missionary. However, this missionary, who had spent most of his life in China and was also buried in China, was sentenced to Ling Chi before his death. What's going on here?
John Tang looked at him
As a missionary sent to China, John Tang was undoubtedly excellent. As early as his youth and youth, John Tang showed intelligence and studiousness beyond ordinary people.
By the time he was seventeen or eighteen, he was already a student of good character and good character. Before he was twenty years old, he joined the Society of Jesus, became a monk, and continued his studies. Astronomy and mathematics were his greatest hobbies, and it was his ideal and ambition to go to China as a missionary, to become a good missionary like Matteo Ricci, and to spread the glory and grace of God to the land of China.
At the age of twenty-five or six, he was officially promoted to priest and became one of the finest monks, excelling in all respects. It was at this time, in the prime of life, that John Tang, along with more than twenty other missionaries, boarded a sailing ship bound for China and shouldered the task of preaching in China.
After more than a year of drifting at sea, they finally came to the vast and prosperous land of China. After lurking for a few years, John Tang finally met the emperor with his knowledge of astronomical mathematics and began his missionary life. Because he believed in Matteo Ricci's "Confucian" ideas, coupled with his own talent and efforts, he soon gained the recognition and appreciation of a considerable number of people and became an official in the DPRK.
Even after the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the emerging Qing Dynasty did not dispose of him because of his talents, but used him very much. He returned his astronomical and mathematical knowledge to the imperial court, introduced advanced Western technology into China, and promoted the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures. He wrote books and lectures, promoted the renewal of the traditional Chinese calendar, and he devoted himself to his work and bowed to the Qing Dynasty. However, it was such a person who was sentenced to Ling Chi. Why is that?
The tragedy caused by the "Biography of Tianxue"
There is a saying called the tree big trick. Tang Ruowang quickly won the appreciation and favor of the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty with his own talents, especially during the Shunzhi period, he was not only the superintendent of the Qin Heavenly Prison, but also received the title of Yipin, which can be described as a moment of glory. Because of this, the number of Chinese people who believe in Catholicism is increasing, reaching more than 100,000 in 1658.
Tang Ruowang's scenery made Yang Guangxian, who was also an official in Qin Tianjian, very unaccustomed. Yang Guangxian believes that the new calendar introduced by John Tang is actually full of errors, his purpose is only for the purpose of preaching, and the "New Law according to the West" on the cover of the new calendar is the evidence of Ming Danghuang, and more and more Christians are also evidence. To this end, he repeatedly wrote to impeach John Tong. But because shunzhi attaches great importance to John Tang, his fold has been pressed.
It was not until after Kangxi succeeded to the throne that Tang Ruowang and others wrote the book "Biography of Tianxue" in response to his complaint.
It was this book that allowed Yang Guangxian to grasp the evidence of his "rebellion" and also aroused the disgust of the vast majority of Chinese officials and people. This book introduces the story of God Jesus, pointing out that the ancestors of Chinese actually came from the West, and even the study of Confucius and Mengzhi is the product of Catholicism, which is "micro-french". It is clear that such rhetoric does not grasp the scale and writes Thousands of years of Chinese classics as vassals of the West. Such an approach could not make the emperor suspicious and disgusted.
In 1664, Yang Guangxian wrote his opinions on John Tang and others into the "Petition for Cults" and wrote to the Ministry of Rites. Since then, the imperial court has banned the spread of Catholicism in China, and has also arrested and imprisoned dozens of missionaries and their families led by John Tang and sentenced them to lingchi.
Fortunately, due to the earthquake in the Beijing Division at that time, the imperial court pardoned the world, and Tang John escaped the disaster. But less than a year after that, John Tang died of illness in Kyoshi and left forever.
A lifetime of crossing the ocean
On the one hand, there are Factors of Yang Guangxian in Tang Ruowang's sentencing, but on the other hand, it is also a more important aspect, and the book "Biography of Tianxue" compiled by them does have many remarks that conflict with the Chinese concepts at that time and are unacceptable to the Chinese people, which undoubtedly aroused people's disgust and anger. It is obviously impossible for them to use decades of missionary work to shake up thousands of years of chinese inheritance and faith.
But in general, John Tang came to China in his twenties, left his homeland, and lived here for most of his life, spending his life's energy and efforts here. There is no doubt that he has made great contributions to promoting the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures, and has also played a great role in the progress of Chinese calendar and science and technology.
Encyclopedia entry "John Tang"