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trends on the topic started around one decade ago is focusing more attention to the Chinese “side of the story”, as stated by authors like Jessie G. Lutz. This “Chinese side” deserves even more to be placed at the centre. But the idea of an elitist proselytism attributed to the Society of Jesus, often contrastively compared with the Mendicant orders, is generally accepted. It is the result of the Jesuit own publicity strategy within Europe where they were looking for funding and support. The pastoral work they developed at the same time among anonymous Chinese communities is now becoming a new field of research that is emerging from the most recent studies on the China Catholic Mission.
On the other hand, obtaining imperial and high rank officials’ patronage was unquestionably a Jesuit strategy. Tomás Pereira, S.J. (1645–1708) was one of the Jesuits most favoured by imperial patronage during the enlightened reign (1661–1722) of the Kangxi Emperor, a result of mutual trust and loyalty to the Emperor, as explained by António Vasconcelos de Saldanha. Having in mind the context of the China Mission, the development of the Western learning in China, the Court culture and Chinese politics, as proposed by A. V. de Saldanha and contextualized by César Guillén-Nuñez, the following two articles aim to provide a scholarly contribution to the study of the Christian China’s Mission in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Celebrating Tomás Pereira in the third centenary of his death, they are also an inspiring reflection to the present day Westerner’s relations with China.
Tereza Sena 冼丽莎
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