“Fasting and nurturing the soul. Jesuit tales on religious fasting in China from the late 16th century to the 18th century”
| Autoři | |
|---|---|
| Rok publikování | 2021 |
| Druh | Další prezentace na konferencích |
| Fakulta / Pracoviště MU | |
| Citace | |
| Popis | Starting from the late 16th century, European Jesuit missionaries reached China and initiated a long process of proselytization of Roman Catholic Christianity in the Ming empire. Stemming from an accommodative approach, Jesuit missionaries started to popularize Roman Catholic Christian lifestyle adopting a multifaceted set of practices that played a key role in the construction of a Christian identity in China. Those practices – that were becoming increasingly relevant across different Sino-Christian communities – had a transformative effect on Chinese individuals. Fasting represented an important component of this new worldwide that the European missionaries brought to the Ming empire. The reasons behind fasting among Chinese Christians were often multifaceted and they entailed different aspects of this transformative interaction that were not necessarily related to the Christian practices promoted by the missionaries. Fr. Nicolas Trigault S. J. (1577-1628) in 1615 narrated the tale of a Chinese woman who lost a Christian necklace and fasted continuously for three days in order to obtain from the Lord the possibility of finding this object. According to Trigault, a Jesuit missionary donated her a new necklace asking her to stop her fasting and she immediately stopped – avoiding any further damage to her health. In a different story narrated by Trigault in 1621, a Chinese Christian fasted for ten days to obtain from the Lord the grace of “softening the heart of his master” during confession. Despite those exceptional events, fasting among 17th century Sino-Christian communities was often less radical and it was mostly related to the abstinence from certain specific foods, especially meat. This was embedded in Buddhist religious beliefs on reincarnation that were diffused across East Asia. Jesuit missionaries – who promoted Christian fasting in specific periods during Lent or in other religious occasions – needed to clarify and reframe fasting detaching it from any previous Buddhist connotation. Thierry Meynard recently explained the complex issues related to Chinese ieiunantes (fasters) – that is, Chinese Christian believers who kept their vegetarian lifestyle. This form of fasting was considered inappropriate and superstitious in contrast to the Christian one promoted by Jesuit missionaries. For this reason, during the “Canton conference” (1667-1668), fasters were not admitted to baptism but manifold exceptions were allowed giving to the Jesuit missionaries great flexibility on this particular practice. This paper will explore different tales directly related to Christian food practices in China and their reception among both elites and commoners. It will consider the role played by different religious food practices – including vegetarianism and fasting – in the construction of the Sino-Christian identity starting from the late 16th century and especially during the 17th century. |