The Jesuits between East and West

The Jesuits between East and West

Rome [ENA] There’s a special, on line, virtual book arts exhibition: Jesuits between East and West, between China and Europe at the Maastricht University, in the Netherlands. This exhibition has been made possible thanks to the specific relationship with the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, Maastricht University has had during centuries. http://umlib.nl/chinaexhibition The Society of Jesus was founded in 1540

by Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) and his companions. The mission of the Jesuits, according to their rule, is a mission of justice and reconciliation. The institution of the Company of Jesus was endorsed in Rome by Pope Paul III and the Jesuits put themselves at the disposition of the pope, assuring him unconditional obedience. In 1575, this Catholic religious order selected Maastricht to establish its first Jesuit college in the Netherlands. In 1976, after the departure of the Jesuits from Maastricht, the new university located its medical faculty on the premises of the city’s former Jesuit college. The university also acquired a wonderful library from the Jesuits, famous as the Jesuit Collection, which holds

thousands of valuable books of travel and other precious works. This exhibition focuses on the often magnificently illustrated books about China from Maastricht University’s Jesuit Collection. Driven by missionary zeal, many Jesuits embarked on a perilous journey to the East. Those who did make it to China, arriving there as of 1582, encountered a highly developed culture. Jesuits were surprised when they saw that the Chinese knew book printing already, while there was also an extensive network of schools in China. Around 1600, over 150 million people were living in China, while Europe had a population of some 75 million.

At the time, the Chinese empire was led by the Ming dynasty, which depended on a bureaucracy of officials competent in the Confucianist classics. The empire had stable autocratic regime. The Jesuits were dependent on Chinese bureaucracy to enter the country and they could not simply leave again. This implied that they had to adapt to all sorts of local circumstances. Between 1582 and 1773, when the pope would formally abolish the Jesuit order, some 400 foreign Jesuits arrived in China. One of them came from Maastricht: François de Rougemont (1624-1676), who later on would actually contribute to spreading the views of Confucius in Europe. Usually there were not more than 40 Jesuits active in China at one time, even though at one point there

were as many as 80 Jesuits. By 1700 they had managed to convert some 200,000 Chinese. The exhibition displays many important travel books: of particular importance a volume comprising letters by the Italian Jesuit Alessandro Valignano (1539-1606) from Japan and China; several publications by the Jesuit Nicolas Trigault (1577-1628) from the town of Douai (then in the Spanish Netherlands). He was the first Jesuit who published on China. The famous book De Christiana expeditione apud Sinas suscepta ab Societate Jesu (1615), dedicated to Pope Paul V, was based on a manuscript by the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610). Another highlight of the  Maastricht University’s Jesuit Collection is the well-known and nicely illustrated 

China Illustrata, a comprehensive survey written by the German Jesuit Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680). Visiting this virtual exhibition it is possible to explore many fascinating stories about ‘other’ cultures – stories which in fact reveal a lot about their author’s perspective and cultural background as well. The role of the Jesuits as mediators between East and West is a theme which fits well with Maastricht University’s interdisciplinary Global Studies programme. From the beginning, the Jesuits were known for the importance they attached not only to spirituality, but also to education.

Many of them were – and are – themselves critical intellectuals with a scholarly approach, an open attitude towards cultural contact and a global, international perspective.