Qinghe XIAO

This paper aims to illustrate the dialogues on the issue of theodicy in late Ming Fujian.
The Catholicism that entered China in the late Ming dynasty had a competitive relationship with indigenous religions in terms of their meaning systems. Catholicism emphasized the omniscience, omnibenevolence, and omnipotence of God, which created tensions and contradictions with the reality of phenomena such as the suffering of good people and the existence of evil. In the late Ming period, scholars, believers, and missionaries in the Fujian region engaged in deep exchanges and dialogues on theodicy, reflecting the significant attention and consideration given to the problem of evil. This paper first analyzes the dialogues on theodicy between the Fujian scholar Ye Xianggao (1559–1627) and the missionary Giulio Aleni (1582–1649). Next, it explores the discussions on the problem of evil between ordinary believers in the Fujian region and Giulio Aleni in their daily lives. Finally, it examines how anti‑Catholics used the problem of evil to criticize Catholicism, and it also identifies the characteristics and impacts of Catholic theodicy in the late Ming and early Qing periods.

Research on religion in China is of critical importance due to its impact on society, culture, and politics within the country and in an increasingly interconnected global context. There is a pressing need in academic and scientific realms to understand and analyze the core research themes conducted in this field over the past decade. The relevance of such research lies in their ability to establish a common framework that facilitates collaboration among researchers and consolidates existing knowledge. By identifying major research and areas of academic activity, this common framework opens the door to greater integration and synergy among academics in this field. Furthermore, this framework benefits researchers in the field of religion in China and offers opportunities to expand and deepen understanding of related topics such as sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies. To do that, a comprehensive analysis has been developed using bibliometric techniques and methodologies to identify and evaluate the most significant research on religion in China over the last ten years. This approach enables the visualization of emerging trends, areas of interest, and significant contributions in the field, providing a comprehensive overview of current research. This analysis addresses this demand using bibliometric tools, techniques, and methodologies. Finally, it underscores the importance of understanding recent research on religion in China and how bibliometric analysis can significantly contribute to academic and scientific collaboration and identify new avenues of inquiry in this dynamic and complex field.

The theory of reward for the good and retribution for the evil (善恶报应) was one of the key issues in the dialogue between Catholicism and indigenous religions in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Under the monotheistic framework, Catholicism advocates supernatural God for rewarding good and punishing evil, thus it had a more logical and rigorous theological arguments. It had exchanges and dialogues with Chinese native religions on the standards of good and evil, who has the rights to reward and punish, and the results of reward and retribution and so on. This article firstly analyzes the Confucian theory of stimulus-response between the heaven and human beings (天人感应). It secondly illustrates the view of the theories of reward for the good and retribution for the evil in Buddhism and Taoism. Then it discusses the Catholic views on rewarding good and punishing evil during late Ming and early Qing, and it also reviews the responses of the native religions in China to Catholic view of rewarding good and punishing evil. Finally, it summarizes the sameness and differences of the theories of reward for the good and retribution for the evil between Catholicism and Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. As to the intentional to do goods, there were some commonalities between Catholicism and Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in the movement of promoting good deeds during late Ming and early Qing. However, there were distinct in the perspective of the standards of good and evil, the subjects of retribution and the roles of individuals in retribution, which caused the conflicts between Catholicism and its opponents in China. The introduction of Catholic theory of reward for the good and retribution for the evil undoubtedly further enriched Chinese religious thoughts since the late Ming dynasty.

The paper, starting from the perspective of philosophical exploration of life, combines historical literature with ontology and dualism as the focal points, integrating features from various fields such as psychology, traditional Chinese medicine, and phenomenology. It conducts a comparative study on the similarities and differences between Western ontology and Taoist dualism of form and spirit. The article elucidates how the 'outward-extending material world and inward-purifying spiritual world' are unified in the principle of the amalgamation of 'human body.' It also provides specific methods and theoretical explanations for the discovery of the spiritual world in the East and West. The external world is defined as the material realm discovered by science, while the internal world is the spiritual realm revealed after the purification of the mind. Both idealism and materialism have tended toward extremes in two directions. Both Western ontology and Eastern Taoist dualism of form and spirit have discovered the phenomenon that 'the spirit can exist independently in this time and space through specific exercises such as meditation.' Taoism, with its unique medical foundation in the study of 'form,' recognizes the interaction of form and spirit, leading to the development of their respective religious, philosophical, and theological traditions. Interdisciplinary and cross-regional studies in religion, particularly in the field of mental and physical health, are expected to become significant trends in the future."

Based on professor Tian Wei's masterpiece, Christianity and Confucianism: Two Models of Religious Existential Ethics, five issues on Confucian-Dialogue are especially discussed in this article: "Christian concept of God and Confucian concept of Heaven's Mandate" involves discussions on theology and anthropology, "Christian doctrine of original sin and Confucian doctrine of innate goodness, "Christian doctrine of salvation through God's grace and Confucian doctrine of self-cultivation through human effort" involves discussions on soteriology and ethics, "Christian concept of divine love and Confucian concept of benevolence" still fundamentally involves soteriology and ethics, and "Christian hope of eternal life and Confucian pursuit of immortality" fundamentally involves eschatology.

天主教传华日常经文的形成——以“圣号经”、“天主经”、“圣母经”为例

古伟瀛https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6188-4791

台湾大学历史学系

摘要：近代东西文化交流中，宗教是重要的部分，而宗教的交流又以经文的翻译为初期重要的工作。本文就天主教在明末传华时最早译成的三种信众日常使用的经文：“圣号经”、“天主经”及“圣母经”作为分析的对象，这些经文的翻译 有两个来源，一是由入华耶稣会士罗明坚以及后来的利玛窦等先后译出；罗明坚使用白话文，利氏使用文言文；另一是 由在菲律宾马尼拉的道明会西班牙传教士高母羡等人为当地华侨翻译而成的，高氏使用的语言是闽南方言。从这三种经文的译文分析中，可以见到东西宗教思想的差异、耶稣会及道明会传教策略的不同，地域的因素造成译文的特色以及这些经文最终的定型以及影响。

This essay examines how ‫א‬ ‫נ‬ ָׂ‫"(ש‬to hate"), ‫ַב‬ ‫ָׂז‬ ‫"(ע‬to abandon"), ‫ׁש‬ ‫ָׂרַ‬ ‫ג‬ ("to cast out"), and ‫ַח‬ ‫ל‬ ‫ׁשָׂ‬ ("to send away") are employed in the Hebrew Bible to denote and connote "divorce." While the patriarchal values and practices are hard to miss, this essay finds the usages of ‫ַח‬ ‫ל‬ ‫ׁשָׂ‬ outside of Pentateuch, in particular in Isaiah 50, Jeremiah 3 and Malachi 2, subversive with respect to the typically negative representation of women. The metaphoric feature and signification of ‫ַח‬ ‫ל‬ ‫ׁשָׂ‬ should not be overlooked and reduced. As such this essay urges caution in citing the "divorce" imagery in the Hebrew Bible as the support and rationale for one's agenda.