Chapter 6 Section 2 Catholic Franciscans enter China
Another branch of Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church, entered China in 1294.Prior to this, the Holy See and European monarchs were shocked by the large-scale western expedition of Mongolian cavalry. Out of political and military motives, they successively sent envoys to the Mongolian Empire. In 1245, Pope Innocent IV sent a Franciscan monk, Italian Belluzian Plano Gabin, as the leader of the mission, to go to Mongolia with the Pope’s letter advising the Mongolian Khan to stop killing and plundering European Christians. .After a three-month long journey, he arrived in Helin on July 22 of the same year.At that time, the Mongols were holding an aristocratic meeting to elect Guiyou as the Great Khan.After staying for four months, Plano Carpin returned to the Holy See with only a letter from Guiyou urging the pope to surrender and pay tribute. In 1247, the Pope sent a monk and a Lombardian Asilin to Mongolia to meet Batu, the commander of the Mongolian Western Expeditionary Army, but returned without success. In 1249, King Louis IX of France, who led the Seventh Crusade to prepare for the Eastern Expedition, sent a Dominican monk and a Frenchman, Andre Langjium, to Mongolia.When Lang Jiumu and others arrived at Guiyou Palace in Eminhe (northwest Xinjiang today), Guiyou died of illness and Empress Hai lost the regent.After meeting with Lang Jiumu, the Queen wrote back a letter requesting the West to be a vassal and pay tribute.Long Jiumu missed the point and returned in 1251. In the spring of 1253, Louis IX sent a Franciscan monk, the Frenchman Lou Beruck, to come east in the name of missionary work.Luberuk successively met with Sarita, the son of Mongolian Batu who was rumored to be a Christian in Western Europe, and Batu who was stationed on the banks of the Volga River.Batu ordered him to meet the Great Khan Mengge.He arrived at Mengge's winter camp near the Wangji River (in today's Mongolian People's Republic) at the end of the year, and then moved northward with the Great Khan's tent, and entered Helin in April of the following year.According to his self-report in "Journey to the East", he had debated with Buddhism and Taoism in front of Mengge Khan, and won the debate, which won the favor of Khan and the Queen for Christianity. The Queen often went to church to worship, He also chanted and prayed for them.But more than five months later, Luberuk returned with Meng Ge's stern letter urging surrender.The mission of his trip was to form a friendship with Mongolia, jointly fight against Muslims, recover the Holy Land and carry out missionary work, but it undoubtedly failed completely. In 1266, Venetian merchants Nicola and Maffeo brothers came to Shangdu (Kaiping) and were received by Kublai Khan.Kublai Khan asked the Pope to send 100 scholars who are familiar with Christianity and the seven arts (grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, music, astronomy and geography) to China.Brother Nicholas returned to Europe in 1269 and presented the Mongolian letter to the Holy See.Two years later, the Nicholas brothers came east again with the 17-year-old Marco Polo.Two Dominican monks sent by Pope Gregory X turned back halfway due to fear of danger.The three of them returned to Shangdu in the summer of 1275 after three and a half years of trekking.Marco Polo stayed in the Yuan Dynasty for 17 years and gained the trust of Kublai Khan. After returning to Venice in 1295, he became famous all over the world because of the publication of "Marco Polo's Travel Notes".Kublai Khan's proposal and Barsauma's westward journey prompted Pope Nicholas IV to appoint John Mengovino, a Franciscan monk and a native of Salerno, Italy, as the envoy of the Holy See to come to China to preach.From the missionary point of view, Montgovino was the first Catholic to open up a diocese in China.
In 1289, Montgovino carried a letter from the Pope to Kublai Khan via Persia and India, and arrived in Dadu by boat in 1294.Kublai Khan died in the same year, and Yuan Chengzong received him and allowed him to preach freely in Dadu.He first persuaded the Nestorian Mongolian nobles, and successfully converted Gaotang King Kuolijisi to Catholicism.But after Kuolijisi died in battle, his younger brother Shuhunan led his followers to practice Nestorianism.According to reports, there are "30,000 people" in most of them, all of whom believe in Christianity.They were soldiers who moved from the Caucasus during the Mongolian expedition to the west.The spread of Catholicism in Dadu is closely related to these people.
About Montgovino’s missionary activities in China, we can get a general idea from his two letters written in 1305 and 1306 respectively.After about five years of hard work, he built the first cathedral in Dadu.In his letter of 1305 he said:
Yu Yu built a church in Khan Bali, the capital city, which was completed six years ago (1299 A.D.).A bell tower was added with three bells.Since arriving here, a total of more than 6,000 people have been baptized.
Yu Chang adopted 150 young children, whose parents believed in heresy.The age of children ranges from seven to eleven years old.None of them had any education or faith.The rest were baptized and taught Greek and Latin... I organized a singing team for him.Every Sunday, there is a rotating service in the church.Whether you come to the hall or go elsewhere, all the children will be unremitting in their duties... When singing, His Majesty the Emperor also heard it and enjoyed it.When offering sacrifices to the saint, Yu and the other children saluted together.
In a second letter he added:
In 1305, Yu built a new church in front of the Great Khan Palace.The hall is just across the street from the Great Khan Palace.The distance between the two places is but an arrow's ear.Peter, who believes in Christianity, is good at business.When Yu You set off, he accompanied Yu Donglai.The foundation of the new church, that is, he bought it, donated the rest, in honor of God...
The first church and the second church are both in the city.The distance between the two places is two and a half. Gaihan Bali City is as big as it is.Yu will collect the children and divide them into two teams.One team is in the first church, and the other team is in the second church, each holding a service.Yu is the abbot of the two halls.Take turns to come to one class every week to guide the libation offering.
The main resistance for Montgovino to preach in China came from the Nestorians.Nestorianism was quite powerful in the imperial court at that time, and the Roman Catholic Church always regarded Nestorianism as "heretical".Montgovino once "had taken great pains to convert the Nestorians to the Roman Church, and told them that if they did not convert, their souls would not be saved. Because of this, the Nestorian apostates, Gritting teeth that everyone hates" ("Great Khan Kingdom"), attack and exclude him.mongovino said:
Nestorian disciples, in name of worshiping Christ, are actually far from the holy way.His people are powerful and powerful in the East.Those who do not agree with the same way, even if they go to a small church, are not allowed to build it, and words with a slightly different purpose are not allowed to be published.In the eastern countries, the saints have disappeared since the past.When Yu Chu came here, he was directly abused by the Nie faction, or instigated others to bully Yu, all kinds of situations were extremely cruel.The person made a slander, saying that Yu was a spy on the bandits, not sent by the Pope.Later, the person forged evidence, saying that the Pope actually sent an ambassador to the East and gave gifts. When he arrived in India, Yu assassinated the ambassador and stole his belongings.Conspiracy and slander for more than five years.Yu Chang was summoned by the court and almost received the death penalty.In the end, God was merciful and helped, and a certain king testified, enlightening the heart of the sweat, so that he knew that Yu was wronged and innocent, and the accuser falsely accused him.The Great Khan exiled the false accuser and his wives, concubines and children.
After that, Meng Gaovinuo won the trust of Yuan Chengzong, and he had a position in the court, and he could enter the palace regularly.Because he is the special envoy of the Pope, he has a special seat in the palace, and his status is above the chief executives of all religions.In addition to translating the "New Testament" and "Psalms", he specially painted six "Bible" images with Latin and Persian explanations for missionary use.He sighed and said: "If I have two or three companions here as assistants, the sweat will be baptized by this day."
Pope Clement V learned that Mengovino's mission was successful, so he sent seven Franciscan monks to China in 1307 to assist Mengovino in presiding over the educational affairs.Among the seven, only Glad, Peregrin and Andrew arrived in China.On behalf of the Pope, they consecrated Montgovino as the archbishop of Khan Bali, who is also in charge of the Eastern Church.Probably in this year, that is, 1313, Quanzhou also created a bishopric, with Gerald as the first bishop, followed by Peregrin and Andrew successively.According to Andrew’s letter from Quanzhou in 1326, a wealthy Armenian woman in Quanzhou built a majestic and magnificent church in the city, which was designated as the cathedral by Mengovino.She also donated a huge sum of money for maintenance costs, and in her final will designated the church to the Bishop of Grad.Andrew built a church in Xiaolin near Quanzhou. After Peregrin died in 1322, he moved to the city to succeed the bishop of the cathedral.
In his letter, Andrew specifically mentioned the financial source of their missionary work in China.He said:
(During the five-year stay in Khan Bali), try to get a copy of Arafa (Arabic) from the emperor, so that we can provide us with food and clothing.Allahah, the emperor grants foreign envoys, lobbyists, warriors, artisans, actors, magicians, poor people, and people of all colors, the stipends for their living expenses.The sum of all the salaries exceeds the tax of the king in Latin.
When he moved to Quanzhou, he was allowed to move the imperial salary (Arafa) to Quanzhou.He said that according to foreign businessmen's estimates, "according to the current exchange rate, the emperor's annual salary to Yu is worth about 100 gold florins. Most of the salary is used to build churches."It seems that Western missionaries were treated very well in the Yuan Dynasty.Montgovino has been independently preaching in China for more than 30 years, and it would have been impossible without the preferential treatment of the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty.
During the last years of Mongovino's tenure as archbishop of Khan Bali, Franciscan monk Odoric, an Italian, came to China.In his early years, he cultivated in Udin Monastery in his hometown and was known for his asceticism. In 1316, he set off from Europe to China by sea.Arrived in Guangzhou around 1322, met Bishop Andrew in Quanzhou, stayed in a Franciscan church in Hangzhou, and debated the theory of reincarnation with Buddhist monks in Lingyin Temple.He arrived in Dadu around 1325 and had an audience with Emperor Taiding.He said that Saracens, Tatars, and Buddhists who held important positions in most courts had converted to Christianity, and Mengovino was favored by the emperor and enjoyed a high reputation.Seeing that Montgovino was old and urgently needed additional missionaries to help him, he returned to Europe by land in 1328. In 1330, he went to Avignon to meet Pope John XXII, and planned to lead 50 priests to the east, but died of illness in 1331.
In 1333, after the Pope learned that Montgovino had died of illness in 1328, he appointed Nicholas, a professor of theology at the University of Paris, to succeed him as archbishop.Nicholas and his party arrived in Ali Mali (northwest of Shuiding Town, Huocheng County, Xinjiang today), and were welcomed by Chagatai Khan.But since then, I don't know where to go. In 1336, Emperor Yuan Shun sent a 16-member mission to Rome led by Bishop Andrew of Quanzhou and others.The mission also carried a letter signed by Alan nobles Fuding, Xiangshan, and Zheyanbuhua to the Pope, requesting to send a new bishop to change the situation of no one to teach and comfort.The Yuan Dynasty mission arrived in Avignon in 1338 and was received by Pope Benedict XII.The Pope immediately organized a mission, with Franciscan monks and Italian Florentine Marinori as special envoys, traveling eastward together with the Yuan Dynasty mission.They arrived in Khan Bali on August 19, 1342, and sent Bona back halfway, with a total of 32 people traveling with them.When Marinori waited to enter the city, the imperial court arranged a grand welcoming ceremony.Marinori presented the pope's reply to Emperor Yuanshun and presented him with a horse.Malinori records: "In the city of Khan Bali, there is a church for junior monks (low-level priests), which is close to the palace. There is the residence of the archbishop in the church, which is quite magnificent. There are still several churches in other places in the city. There are alarm bells. The food and clothing of the priests are all provided by the Great Khan, so they are abundant.” During his stay in Dadu, he “often discussed religious justice with the Jews and other sects, and all of them were able to argue. He also influenced the other country. It is because of this that many people save souls from the plight of hell.” The mission stayed in Dadu for four years, and then returned west by sea.When the embassy departed, the emperor ordered the pope to send another man of the rank of marinori or cardinal, preferably a monk, to serve as bishop.However, shortly after Marinori returned, the division of the Holy See intensified, and the Yuan Dynasty was forced to move northward, and the missionary activities of Christianity in China were completely suspended.
Yeli Kewen of the Yuan Dynasty was always highly respected.In the twenty-sixth year of the Yuan Dynasty (1289 A.D.), Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty set up a special Chongfu Division to deal with Christians. Sacrifice matters at the Cross Temple." In the second year of Yanyou (1315 A.D.), it was upgraded to "Chongfu Yuan", "with a member of the consul, and the province merged with the world, Ye Li Kewen was in charge of the 72 sects, and learned about it. In seven years (1320 A.D.), he was restored to be a division." ("Yuan History Baiguan Zhi") Chongfu Division, Xuanzhengyuan and Jixianyuan, which were in charge of Buddhism and Taoism, were the three major religious institutions in the Yuan Dynasty.There are four members in charge of the Chongfu Division, who are from the second rank, and the official rank is below the first rank from the Xuanzheng Yuan, which is the same as the Jixian Yuan.In the imperial edicts of the Yuan Dynasty, Yeli Kewen was often listed after monks and Taoists, and before Dashiman. It can be seen that Yeli Kewen's social status and influence are second only to Buddhism and Taoism.However, as a foreign religion whose main purpose is to preach, Christianity must adapt to China's cultural traditions and social needs in order to successfully take root and spread in the land of China.Under the patronage and support of the rulers, Nestorianism once set up 72 churches (cathedrals) in Yelikewen across the country, and Catholicism also established Dadu and Quanzhou dioceses, but most of the believers were not Han Chinese, but Mongols and Semu people.Christianity did not really take root in Chinese society, but only attached to the political power of the Yuan Empire and floated on the surface of society.Therefore, it developed with the prosperity of the Yuan Empire and disappeared with the collapse of the Yuan Empire.American scholar Laidre said: "As far as we know, if Nestorianism had never been introduced to China in the past, or the Pope of Rome had never sent Franciscan monks such as Montgovino to China after a long and difficult journey from Europe. , then the Chinese and Chinese culture will not be any different from today.” ("History of Christian Missions in China") This shows that Christianity in the Yuan Dynasty had little influence on China.
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