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Macau Ricci Newsletter 8
No. 8 － January 2007
General Assembly
The General Assembly of the Macau Ricci Institute was held on September 14th, 2006 with the presence of Dominique Tyl, Yves Camus, Laura Chau, César Guillén-Nuñez, Michael Saso, Luís Sequeira, Lei Heong Iok, Carlos Marreiros and Louis Gendron.
The meeting of the General Assembly had the following Agenda:
- Activities report since the last General Assembly.
- Presentation of the accounts and balance sheet.
- Presentation of MRI Statutes amendments.
- Working program for the year 2007.
- Other matters.
Points Nos.1-4 were unanimously approved. Although the new statutes were yet to be registered with the government authorities, the General Assembly nominated Artur Wardega, S.J. as the Vice-Director of Macau Ricci Institute with immediate effect, but subject to the official approval of the Statutes’ amendments.
Thierry Meynard and Michael Saso were accepted as Ordinary Members. Brent Johnson, Eric Sautedé and Antoni Úçerler were accepted as Researchers. The resignation of Bernard Chu and Alfred Deignan as members of the Fiscal Council was accepted.
Forums
Only one Forum was held by the Institute during this fall – winter season and was dedicated to the main dossier theme of the CCC 3.4. on psychoanalysis in China. Our guest speaker was Geoffrey Blowers, who is Professor in the Department of Psychology and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong. His talk was entitled: “Œdipus in Asia and the resistance to Psychoanalysis”. The speaker examined some attempts made in the 1920s and 1930s in India, Japan and China to introduce Freud's psychoanalytic ideas and the resistances they met, as well as discussing specific cultural variants on Freud’s theory of the Œdipus Complex.
神州交流― Chinese Cross Currents (CCC)
In March, because of an insurmountable controversy related to the conception and preparation of the periodical, which occurred between Yves Camus, Director of the Publication and its Chief Editor, Éric Sautedé, it was decided to nominate two more persons to the leadership of the CCC journal. Thereafter, in the end of August, Patrick Li Feng, Overseas Project Director of Interinfo Consultancy based in Beijing and Artur Wardega, MRI research fellow and CCC Book Review Editor, both of them became CCC Associate Chief Editors.
Symposium
This year our International Symposium was held during November 30th to December 2nd and entitled “Christianity & Cultures – Japan and China in Comparison 1543-1644”.
The symposium aimed to bring together leading Sinologists and Japanologists from around the world engaged in research on the history of Christianity in Japan and in China . It took as its point of departure the 400th anniversary of the death of Alessandro Valignano, S.J. (1539–1606), one of the first Europeans to articulate a clear policy of religious and cultural engagement with the civilizations of China and Japan .
The symposium aimed also to foster a comparative and interdisciplinary approach by adopting a format that included both short formal papers and interactive panel discussions. It allowed scholars not only to present their own research but also to explore jointly with other specialists the similarities and differences between newly emerging models of Christianity among the Japanese and the Chinese. Each panel focused on a specific theme that illustrated and compared the elaboration and development of new expressions of Christian culture in the two countries.
More specifically, scholars had concentrated on early Christian texts in translation, works of art, the development of new forms of Christian ritual, local community organization, etc., in late Ming China and Warring States / early Tokugawa Japan ( ca . 1543–1644). Such modes of interaction with local cultures, while originally relying on European models, were adapted over time by the missionaries and prominent local Christians to and transformed by the East Asian cultural matrix.
There were some 35 speakers, discussants and chair persons coming from different continents including U.S.A, Canada, Portugal, Belgium, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Researcher’s activities
In the beginning of October Fr. Yves Camus went for a week visit to Beijing where he met Mr. Patrick Li Feng, cultural and publication advisor, and translators engaged in the CCC publication. He also explored the possibilities of publication of “Mise en Abîme “ and Spiritual Quest volumes 1-2 in CTPC.
On the extended invitation of Ni Liangkang, professor of Phenomenology and president of Archives for the Introduction of Western Knowledge to the East, Yves Camus and Artur Wardega went on December the 1st to Guangzhou’s Sun Yatsen University to attend the opening conference-ceremony, which inaugurated new research center of that University. At the two days International Conference “Introduction of Western Philisophy and Modernization of Chinese Society”- a wide scope of local scholars as well as few foreign invited professors have presented their papers. Among them were Prof. Thierry Meynard, who is currently teaching Philosophy at the University, he is also new nominated vice-president of the Center, and Professor Emeritus Elmar Holenstein from Zurich, Switzerland. Most of the talks were focused on interdisciplinary interchange between philosophy and culture in today’s research in China. On December 9-10 Fr. Camus went to Zhaoqing University for the commemoration of Matteo Ricci and the years he spent in Zhaoqing. Later on December 19-23 he stayed in Beijing where he held consultations on the MRI publications at the CTPC and had discussion with National Library of Beijing on the Chinese Translation of the Beitang’s Library Catalogue. He also met Prof. Liu Dong from Beijing University.
Tereza Sena has written and published in CCC 3.4, Oct-Dec 2006, pp.118-123, her review of the book “Rivalry and Conflict. European Traders and Asian Trading Networks in the 16th and 17th Centuries”ed. by Ermst van Veen and Leonard Blussé (Leiden, CNWS Publications, 2005). In November she has collaborate with Macau Post on the collection of stamps “Macau e a Companhia de Jesus (Macau and the Society of Jesus) issued by the Philatelist section of Correios de Macau. She also has published her presentation on MRI Symposium 2003, “Wu Li and Macau” in Culture, Art, Religion: Wu Li (1632-1718) and his Inner Journey, Macau, MRI Studies Series, vol. III, 2006, pp.297-326. She attended the International Symposium “Christianity & Cultures: Japan and China in Comparison, 1543-1644”, co-organized by The Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History of the University of San Francisco / Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu in Rome and Macau Ricci Institute, in Macau, Nov.30th – Dec. 2nd , 2006.
Artur Wardega, MRI research fellow and CCC Book Review Editor, on August 28th was nominated CCC Associate Chief Editor. On September 23 he responded positively on the invitation coming from the Fine Arts College of Xiangfan, to the International Symposium on Theology and Aesthetics, Xiangfan, Hubei, China, September 24-26, 2006. He delivered a paper on "Genius of Christianity or Genius of Chivalry? - Human Invention of Belief in 19th century Western Europe", pp.34-38. Then in October 8-13 he went to Beijing to explore the possibility of the publication of his literary essay “Mise en Abîme”. He visited and had talks with Beijing Zhongyang Bianji chubanshe. He also paid visit to Prof. Zhang Xiping, director of Beijing Foreign Studies University and of the Research Center of Overseas Sinology.
"The Introduction of Western Philosophy and Modernization of Chinese Society" – International Conference for the Founding of the Archive for Introduction of Western Knowledge at Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, December 1-2, 2006.
生态时代与文学艺术 – National Conference on Literature and Ecology, Hainan University, Haikou, Hainan Island, China, December 8-12, 2006.
Special Workshop
Yves Camus was requested by the Chinese Province to organize for Jesuit Scholastics a series of talks related to Jesuits in China Past and Present. The workshop took two days (October 26-27) and was held on Cheung Chau Island at the Xavier Jesuit Retreat House. Almost 18 scholastics coming from eleven different Asian countries took part in this gathering. There were ten speakers. Jerry Martinson from Taipei’s KPS gave a talk on Francis Xavier and Xu Guangqi, Jean-Paul Wiest, from Beijing Center, on the Jesuit missionaries in China until suppression of the Society (1773) and after … , Luciano Morra on Opium Wards (1842) till the establishment of the Peoples’ Republic of China (1949), Beda Liu Jiazheng on the period from PRC till now. The following day sessions were dedicated to the contemporary situation in China and raised topics like: Economy and Politics in the era of Reforms by Nailene Chou-Wiest, on Society and Culture today, by Jean-Paul Wiest, on Chinese Literature in China today, by Artur Wardega, on Buddhist Communities, by Christan Cochini and on Daoist communities by Michael Saso. The Q & A round table followed each session.
Visits
On August 28th Patrick Li Feng, Overseas Project Director of Interinfo Consultancy based in Beijing and newly nominated CCC Associate Chief Editor, came at the invitation of the MRI to Macau to take part in an extended CCC Editorial meeting together with the Director of the CCC Publication, Yves Camus, with the Director of the MRI Institute, Luís Sequeira, with the CCC Chief Editor, Éric Sautedé and new CCC Associate Chief Editor and CCC Book Review Editor, Artur Wardega. The meeting has focused the aim of closer cooperation between China resources and MRI resources in conception and contents of MRI scholarly journal. It also fostered the preparation for MRI Spiritual Quest Series to be published in Beijing.
On 21-22 we had a working visit from Dr. Antoni Üçerler, S.J. from Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu in Rome, for coordination between the two institutions, the efforts for successful preparation of forthcoming jointly organized International Symposium, “Christianity and Culture” in Macau.
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