Macau Ricci Newsletter 15

No. 15 － June 2010

MRI Commemorates Ricci’s Death with Booklet

On 5 May, the English version of our booklet Portrait of a Jesuit: Matteo Ricci (MRI Jesuítas Publications Series, No.1), published and printed with the assistance of Delta Edições, Lda, was finally off the press. This coincides with the 400th anniversary of the death of Fr Matteo Ricci, SJ, as well as the tenth anniversary of the MRI.

The book gathers four essays: two are concerned with the life of Matteo Ricci and are written by Dr Gianni Criveller, PIME; the other two are about the iconography related to a well-known portrait of Matteo Ricci painted by Bro. Manuel Pereira, SJ, and about the Nantang church in Beijing, both written by Dr César Guillén Nuñez, MRI researcher. A Chinese version will be ready in the second half of the year.

Forums

On 24 February the MRI held its first bimonthly forum of 2010. Entitled “Xiaojiao Village: The Historical Transformation of a Rural Community in Northern China”. It was presented by Prof. Hao Zhidong, associate professor of the Department of Sociology, University of Macau, and chaired by Mr Albert Wong, our academic assistant. Around 30 persons were present.

Another forum, entitled “The Bible and the New Chinese Literature in the Twentieth Century”, was held on 22 April. This time we were pleased to welcome Marián Gálik, professor emeritus of Comenius University, Bratislava. Prof. Gálik gave an fascinating presentation of the topic and had a fruitful dialogue with the audience afterwards. The forum was chaired by Fr Artur Wardega.

International Workshop 2010

Our International Workshop entitled “Beyond Postmodernity: Doubt, Time and Violence in Philosophical and Cultural Thought”, was held on 2 February, 2010, and began with a welcome speech made by Fr. Artur Wardega to all the participants upon which the morning session started immediately.

The first session of the morning was chaired by Dr Anders Hansson and included presentations made by Fr Dominique Tyl, SJ, (MRI) and Prof. Wong Nim-yan (Chinese University of Hong Kong). The main paper of the workshop written by Prof. Keith Tester (University of Hull, England) was unfortunately unable to attend the session, but his paper, entitled “Confusing World, Vulnerable People: On the Condition of Medialization”, was read by Mr Albert Wong (MRI). 

After the lunch break, there were two afternoon sessions. The first one, chaired by Prof. Charles Coutel, vice-president of Artois University in France, included papers presented by Prof. Alison Bailey (University of British Columbia, Canada), Prof. Zhu Shoutong (University of Macau) and Prof. Wu Xiaoming (University of Canterbury, New Zealand). The second afternoon session, chaired by Dr César Guillén Nuñez (MRI), included papers presented by Dr Tudor Vladescu (Saint Joseph University, Macau), Prof. Wendy Larson (University of Oregon, USA), and Prof. Jin Siyan, (Artois University and director of the Confucius Institute France-Nord). There were good comments and discussion between the scholars in the audience and the speakers.

At 6.00 p.m. day a concluding panel was chaired by Fr Wardega and included Professors Coutel, Bailey and Wu. Fr Wardega then made a final speech thanking all the scholars and speakers for the high quality of the contributions to the workshop.  Later in the evening everyone enjoyed a dinner at the IFT Restaurant.

During his stay in Macau, Prof. Charles Coutel, vice-president of Artois University had a meeting with Fr Wardega on behalf of Institut d’Étude des Faits Religieux in order to further discussions about eventual academic collaboration with the MRI.

The Workshop was covered in the latest issue of the Chinese Province News (Feb. 2010) as well as in local newspapers.

神州交流 ― Chinese Cross Currents (CCC)

The first issue of 2010 opens with the reflection of its editor, Yves Camus, on the Fifteenth United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), in which he holds that coping with problems such as climate change requires each party to share global responsibility and requires world self-awakening. Such a challenge should also change the general concept of national sovereignty. Further discussions are expected to help increase mutual trust to accept these challenges. Among the “emerging economic powers”, India is the one highlighted in the World section of this CCC issue. N. Jarayam scrutinizes the progress of democracy in his home country, while not ignoring the backlash of the exploited, leading him to his very human conclusion of “some hope, much despair”. Shi Yinhong and Song Dexing look at the rise of India from a Chinese perspective focusing on the strategy that the Indian leaders have used to make the best of the constraints present in their nation’s predicament and the effect of India’s rise on international politics. The ‘Thought & Humanism’ section commemorates the 50th anniversary of the death of French writer Albert Camus with two articles, one by Niu Jingfan on his lasting influence on China, followed by a conversation between Camus and his friend Howard Mumma, a Methodist pastor.

Yves Camus writes on the 4th centenary of the death of Matteo Ricci in issue no. 2 and reminds the readers of the warlike context worldwide when Ricci entered China. It was thanks to his friendly approach, wisely respectful of important traditions like the veneration of ancestors, of the Emperor and of the sage Confucius, that Ricci was so well received. A part of his legacy, namely the translation of Chinese classics into foreign languages and the acceptance of Chinese thought are elucidated in two articles by Thierry Meynard and Zhang Xianqing. Meynard believes that the value of the Confucius Sinarum Philosophus, the first translation of the Analects of Confucius into a Western language,lies in establishing a bridge that allowed two different cultures to communicate with each other, on the basis of the Confucian classic. In his opinion, today’s study of the Chinese classics should include Western interpretations of the Chinese classics. Zhang writes about the poem ‘The XianhuaTemple’ exploring the little-known achievements of Michele Ruggieri, the first advocate and executor of the Catholic way of adaptation.

Researcher’s activities

Fr Artur Wardega together with Mr Albert Wong went to Guangzhou on 19–20 January to meet with Fr Thierry Meynard and discuss future academic collaboration between our Institute and his Department of Philosophy at the Sun Yat-sen University. They also discussed the representation of our institutions at the international symposium to be held in Poland on 10–11 May. Fr Wardega and Mr Wong also met with Mr Wang and Ms Zhong Bing from the Guangdong International Culture Exchange Centre.

On 21 January, Fr Artur Wardega went to Hong Kong together with Ms Liu Jingjing and Fr Camus to attend the opening ceremony of a three-day conference entitled “Religious Studies in Chinese Academic Contexts”, held at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and organized by its Department of Cultural and Religious Studies.

On 10–13 March, Fr Artur Wardega and Mr Albert Wong went to Beijing and met with the Chinese pianist Mr Sheng Yuan to discuss preparation for his performance in Macau on 6 October together with Fr Philippe Charru from France. They also paid a visit to the Matteo Ricci Exhibition being held at the Beijing Capital Museum. Fr Wardega and Mr Wong went to visit the graveyard of Matteo Ricci and foreign missionaries of the Ming and Qing dynasties. This was organized by Prof. Yu Sanle, custodian of the cemetery.

Fr Artur Wardega, director of the MRI, was invited to the International Conference on the History of the New Chinese Literature, organized by the Department of Chinese Studies and Literature, University of Macau, between 19 and 20 April. He opened one of the sessions and was the discussant for several papers presented by well-known scholars, including Professors Marián Gálik and Wolfgang Kubin.

On 10–11 May, Fr Artur Wardega and Dr César Guillén Nuñez went to Poznan in Poland to participate in an International conference entitled “Misjonarze Miedzy Wschodem I Zachodem W 400 Rocznice Smierci Ojca Matteo Ricciego SI” (Missionary enterprise between East and West—on 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci SJ). This was held at Poznan University. Both presented papers entitled “From Macao up to Beijing (1582–3 till 1610)—Matteo Ricci and Euro-Jesuit enterprise in China: Portrait of a Jesuit” and “The Portrait of Matteo Ricci” respectively.

Dr Anders Hansson went to Shanghai to attend the “Inaugural International Forum” entitled “Dialogue among Civilizations and Global Challenges” organized by the newly established Xu-Ricci Dialogue Institute at Fudan University on 11 May 2010. During his stay in Shanghai, Dr. Hansson visited the Matteo Ricci Exhibition now being shown at the Shanghai Museum.

On 11 May the DVD-ROM version of the Chinese-French Grand Ricci dictionary (Grand Ricci numérique) was launched at a reception in the Shanghai Museum. Fr Yves Camus, one of the directors and co-authors of the dictionary project and Dr Anders Hansson were present on the occasion.

Visits

On 17 December 2009, Ms. Yuka Tsunoda, a scholar from Kokinu-Tsukubamirai in Japan, visited our library. Her research field is Jesuit missionaries in Japan: the relationship between Japan, Macao and Portugal.

Two students from Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, Mr. Shen Rui and Ms. Wang Huiyu, came to visit our Institute on 10 January 10 having been introduced by Fr Thierry Meynard. Fr Yves Camus gave them a tour of the Library and showed them some books for their research.

Mr. Oswaldo Veiga Jardim, an independent scholar, came to visit our Library on 11 January. Failing to find the original of a book entitled “Un jésuite à Pékin: nouveaux mémoires sur l’état présent de la Chine, 1687–1692”, he was happy to be able to find in our Library another book “Asia Extrema: Entra nella a fé, promulga-s a ley de Deos pelos padres da Companhia de Jesus: Primeira parte, Livros II a VI”, which was very useful for his research.

On 21–22 January Mr Harrison John Adams, a researcher, visited our Library to get help for his research on Daoism..

On 23 February, Ms. Zhao Ting, assistant professor at Jin Ling Institute, Nanjing University, came to consult our Library. Her research field is Macau tea culture.

On 26 February and 5 March, Ms. Angela Man, lecturer in Languages and Translation Department of the Macau Polytechnic Institute, came to use our Library. She is conducting research using the works of the late Fr Manuel Teixeira.

On 17 March Prof. Shang Quanyu from South China Normal University in Guangzhou came to visit Macau Ricci Institute. He met with Dr. Liu Jingjing, with whom he had a useful conversation, and she introduced him to our facilities. Prof. Shang’s research field is focused on world history and religious culture, but he is mainly interested in the relationship between China and India.

On 27–28 March Prof. Ri Ryo from Thought and Cultural Course, Faculty of Humanities, Hirosaki University, in Aomori, Japan, had a couple of meetings with Fr. Artur Wardega. Prof. Ri’s field of research is Chinese history and his specialty is Christianity in China. It has been agreed to develop academic exchanges between our Institute and Hirosaki University.

On 30 March, Mr. Luca Fraticelli, the Deputy Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong, visited our Institute. He was received by Fr Artur Wardega and Mr. Jerónimo Hung and told us that the Matteo Ricci exhibition is definitely coming to the Macau Museum of Art. It will be opened on 7 August, the date when Ricci arrived to Macao in.1582. The exhibition will last until the end of October 2010.

On the same day, Prof. David Francis Urrows of the Department of Music, Hong Kong Baptist University, paid a visit to our Institute. He met our researcher Dr. Liu Jingjing for some academic conversation about new material related to musical instruments, especially to pipe organs during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties in China.

On 10 April, Ms. Isabel Castro, a reporter from Revista Macau, came to have an interview with Fr Artur Wardega. The conversation was focused on the 2010 MRI activities celebrating the 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci, including the international symposium on “Acta Pekinensia” on 5–7 October and the evening piano & organ concert with famous Chinese and French performers on 6 October. Fr Wardega was also interviewed on 2 February by the daily newspaper Ponto Final on the same topic.

On 14 April, Prof. Zhang Xiping from the China Research Centre of Overseas Sinology, Beijing Foreign Studies University, and Prof. Ren Dayuan from the Institute of Chinese Culture, Chinese Academy of Arts, visited our Institute. On behalf of Fr Artur Wardega, Mr Jerónimo Hung and Mr Albert Wong gave them a warm welcome and recent MRI publications were exchanged for their own publications.

On 16 April, Fr Adam Zak, Central and East European Assistant and Fr Antoine Kerhuel, Western European Assistant of the Jesuit Curia Generalizia at Rome, visited our Institute. The MRI management as well as Mr Albert Wong gave them a warm reception. Fr Artur Wardega made a PowerPoint presentation of our Institute and our aims and objectives, and our development, activities and publications during past ten years. Both visitors were well impressed with the achievements and performance of our Institute in such a short period.

On 29 April, a team of journalists from the Moscow-based MONOCLE magazine, including Mr Shaun Walker and two cameramen, came to interview Fr Artur Wardega, director of MRI, on the cultural and intellectual development of the MRI and its place in contemporary Macau.

On 5 May, Dr Lau Chi-pang, Director of the Hong Kong Local Records Office of Lingnan University, Dr. Wong Tai-wai from the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital and his wife Mrs Maria Lee Wai Ling, together with Ms Anna Leong from Catholic Pilgrimage Service of Macao, paid a visit to our Library. Mrs Lee, who is finishing the re-writing of a Chinese book about Matteo Ricci in collaboration with Dr Lau Chi-pang, came to look for illustrations for the biography of Matteo Ricci. Mr Jerónimo Hung, general secretary and librarian, showed them two volumes of Fonti Ricciane in which they found valuable materials for their project.  Dr Lau presented our Library with two books edited by himself and entitled Gazetteer of Xin’an County and An Anthology of Sources for Hong Kong History and Professor Hou Pao-Chang and his family. In return, Mr Hung offered each of them the latest issue of CCC (vol. 7, no. 2).

On 10 May, a group of seven Jesuits visited our Institute. Fr Luís Sequeira, Mr Jerónimo Hung and Mr Albert Wong received them. Fr Sequeira made a presentation to the visitors and added some interesting details about the development and the publications of our Institute.

On 12 May a group of five scholars visited our Institute. Their research fields are mostly on the history of the church in China, Matteo Ricci and philosophy.

On 19 May Mr David Yao Dadui, a PhD student of Prof. Lin Gang at Sun Yat-sen University, visited our Library. He was in a two-month research programme granted by the University of Macau. Mr Yao’s research field is modern Chinese literature.

Publications

“Literary Creation and Culture based on Religious Belief”, an article presented by Fr Artur Wardega in July 2008 at a conference at Harbin Normal University in Heilongjiang, was published in 2010 in volume 10 of “Jidujiao Sixiang Pinglun”  (Regent Review of Christian Thoughts by the Shanghai People’s Publishing House.