In the first five southern tours, Kangxi met with western missionaries for the purpose of "being a distant person", and when they met, they were usually "very happy". However, in the last southern tour, the situation changed suddenly, although it was only more than a year after the previous southern tour. It can be clearly seen from the records of several southern tours that the missionaries finally lost the preferential treatment of Kangxi and were caught in a dilemma between the Vatican and the Qing court.
Emperor Kangxi visited the South six times during his reign. Historians have discussed the purpose and significance of the southern tour, but few people have noticed that Kangxi interacted with missionaries during his southern tour, and the last southern tour was obviously different from the previous five. These activities are rarely seen in official documents collected in various countries. Fortunately, some missionaries who were present at that time vividly recorded the interviews and conversations, and some of them were printed and sent back to Europe, so that we could get a glimpse of them.
In 1684, after the rebellion between Taiwan Province and San Francisco was put down, Kangxi made his first southern tour on the grounds of patrolling river workers and worshipping Confucius and the Ming Tombs, and inspected officials to understand the people's feelings. At the same time, he also took the opportunity to win over Han literati in the south of the Yangtze River. After that, he made five southern tours one after another, and the last time was in 1717. Every time Kangxi made a southern tour, wherever he went, he often asked whether there were churches and priests, and personally met missionaries. During the first five southern expeditions, Kangxi was very friendly to missionaries, and the last time, because of the visit of the special envoy of the Holy See, Doro, the contradiction between the Qing court and the Holy See intensified and the etiquette dispute reached a climax. Below we will show the interaction between Kangxi and missionaries during the southern tour according to the documents and archives collected in China and Europe, and focus on the attitude of Kangxi, Zhijun Wang and officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to missionaries during the etiquette dispute on the last southern tour.
Emperor Kangxi had a close relationship with Catholic missionaries all his life. In 1668, Yang Guangxian (1597-1669) and ferdinand verbiest, a Jesuit, gambled on measuring the sun shadow outside the noon gate, but none of the ministers knew it, so the young Emperor Kangxi made great efforts to learn western learning. At first, ferdinand verbiest, An Wensi and Li Leisi served as imperial teachers. After 1688, Xu Risheng, Amdo, Zhang Cheng, Bai Jin and others taught western learning. Kangxi relied on the skills of missionaries and invited them to accompany him every time he went out on patrol. In the spring of 1682, ferdinand verbiest toured the Northeast with Emperor Kangxi. In 1696 and 1697, Kangxi personally marched to Gardan, and Zhang Cheng and Amdo also accompanied him to the northwest to observe the solar eclipse along the way and measure the height of the North Pole to determine the local latitude and longitude. After 1711, more missionaries drove to Jehol Summer Resort every year. Every time I went out on patrol, missionaries accompanied me, some as doctors, some as translators, some as painters, and some as astronomers, ready to ask questions and answer questions about calendar, medicine, nature and geography of Emperor Kangxi. Western learning and missionaries became an important part of Kangxi's daily life and even his political life, and also became one of his tools and means of governing the country.
During his southern tour, Kangxi often met missionaries. At that time, missionaries and Christians recorded it, compiled it into books, and published it one after another. Among them, The Final Decision of Xi Chao recorded the first five southern tours, while the record of the sixth southern tour (Hangzhou in 1717) was found in the book "A Pledge of Missionary by Order" written by Zhang Xingyao and others. These are very rare first-hand information.
According to the statistics of Xi Chao Finalization, Emperor Kangxi met missionaries during his southern tour, such as Bi Jia and Wang Ruwang in Nanjing in 1684; In 1689, he received Koroser, Yin Duoze, Pan Guoliang, Hong Ruo, Bi Jia and Li Anning in Jinan, Hangzhou, Jiangning and Jining respectively. In 1699, he met Pan Guoliang in Wuxi and Hangzhou (accompanied by Zhang Cheng and Bai Jin); In 1713, he met Guo Tianchong and Xi Shengxue in Hangzhou. In 1715, he received Meng Wei, Yang Ruohan, Ai Si, Long Sheng, He Nadu and Ai Yuhan in Huai 'an and Hangzhou. In 1717, I met with Esteban, Guo Zhongchuan and Gong Dangxin in Hangzhou. Among them, most of them are Jesuits, except Monro (a missionary of the Foreign Missionary Society in Paris), Ai Yuhan (a Dominican missionary) and He Nadu (a missionary of the Ministry of Communication).
As can be seen from the records, some missionaries went from Hangzhou to Suzhou and Wuxi, some from Yanzhou to Huai 'an to meet the emperor, and some from Suzhou to Hangzhou. Emperor Kangxi, on the other hand, sent guards from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to the church to worship God, showing his concern for Catholicism and his attention to missionaries. When they met, Kangxi often asked about their age, nationality, time of coming to China, residence (Catholic Church), whether they had been to Beijing, whether they knew a certain missionary, and so on. Missionaries usually send "square objects" (western gifts) to express their gratitude and respect to the emperor. As usual, Emperor Kangxi will accept some gifts, and in return, he will give food, silver and gifts to the missionaries. After receiving the gifts, the missionaries will be "grateful" as usual.
interestingly, in order to cater to Kangxi's hobby of exotic western objects, the missionaries presented many scientific instruments, such as a gas tube, a telescope, an armillary sphere, a sundial, a sun, moon and star clock, an astronomical scale, as well as a mirror, a glass bottle, a glass ball, glasses for thousands of years, western medicine, western stationery, a western scale, western paper and a fishbone. Emperor Kangxi was particularly interested in the celestial sphere and asked Bijia to send the trachea to Beijing. In the dialogue with missionaries, Kangxi also asked them if they knew anything about astronomy, medicine and geography, which showed his keen interest in western science.
Black paint box drawing instrument, made by Qing Palace Office in Kangxi period. The upper and lower floors contain more than 31 drawing instruments and a blue water bottle for storing ink. Now in the Palace Museum
Let's take the southern tour in the 28th year of Kangxi (1689) as an example. On February 27th, Emperor Kangxi arrived at the Stargazing Platform of the Arctic Pavilion under the protection of a group of ministers in Nanjing to observe astronomical phenomena. Minister Li Guangdi was able to accompany him, and vividly recorded Emperor Kangxi's activities in observing the Old Star in the Stargazing Platform. At that time, it happened that Hong Ruo, a French Jesuit, and Bijia, an Italian Jesuit, were in Nanjing. If Hong was a famous French astronomer, he was sent to China as a "king mathematician" of Louis XIV. Before coming to China, he was famous for his observation in France. After arriving in Beijing in 1688, he was received by Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi has heard about Hong Re's achievements. In Nanjing, Bi Jia and Hong Ruo also presented "square objects and measuring instruments" to Kangxi. Interestingly, before Emperor Kangxi went to the star-gazing platform to observe the stars, he had sent his bodyguard Zhao Chang to ask Hong Re and Bi Jia if they could see the old star in Nanjing, and they answered them.
The southern tour in the forty-fourth year of Kangxi (1715) is recorded in Lun Yin Tedian, which is attached at the end:
At noon on the ninth day of March in the forty-fourth year of Kangxi, the emperor made a southern tour, arrived in Huai 'an Huanghuating by boat, and stayed at the Western Scholar's Church in Yanzhou, Zhejiang Province, and received the holy drive with Yang Ruohan, a Western Scholar in Jiangning Catholic Church. The order was: All play back one by one. Ask Meng Yun again: Are you coming to Yanzhou, Zhejiang? As the saying goes, when I heard that Long live the southern tour, I was very enthusiastic, and I came from Yanzhou to pick up the driver. The emperor is delighted. With 12 kinds of square objects, I presented them to you. Yu Yun: You can take the things back to this province, and I will collect them all for you. On the third day of April, Meng Lian greeted the sacred drive in Hangzhou, and then presented the western objects to the palace of the Weaving House. hall of mental cultivation always led Zhang Chuan to collect the objects, and the imperial tour accepted them all, which made him very happy, that is, he gave 921 pieces of silver. Twelve kinds of things were presented to the Crown Prince, and they were also collected by the internal supervisor. On the ninth day, the emperor was stationed in the West Lake Palace. Before it was carved, the minister in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was appointed to lead Zhang Chuanzhi, and the next day he ordered the Western Jinshi Yanzhou Catholic Church to be sent to see him. On the 11th day of the lunar new year, when the sacred horse returned to China, Meng Yi hired a boat with Ai Yuhan, a western scholar in Quzhou Catholic Church, Ai Qian, a western scholar in Hangzhou Catholic Church, He Naduo, a western scholar in Xiaoshan Catholic Church, and Longsheng, a western scholar in Huzhou Catholic Church, and sent them to Tangkou, xie cun. As soon as the emperor saw it, he opened the dragon boat window, beckoned the boat to the imperial ship with his hand, asked the ministers what nationality they were from, and all the five ministers responded. Ask the cloud again: are you all right in the place? Back to the cloud: I'm all right with the Emperor Hong En of Hermon. He also ordered the imperial supervisor to cook a cooked pig in imperial cuisine, and gave five ministers a snack. The ministers kowtowed and thanked them, that is, they followed the dragon boat to Yijindu. The Emperor asked: Where are you going? The five ministers and others played a cloud: I respectfully sent the holy driver, kowtowed to the emperor, and intended to send him far away. The emperor himself said: you should go back yourself, and you don't have to send it far away. I'll give thanks and go back. Fu Nian-tuo and other western scholars were honored by the emperor, and they were extremely grateful and gentle. I would like to publish my last respects in a square book. I don't forget my little ambition, and I have nothing to report on my reconsideration. I wish the son of heaven eternal happiness in the boundless cloud.
In addition to Lun Yin TeDian, officials who followed Kangxi also described it:
(April 26th) The Emperor's trip had a Catholic Church in Beiting Lane, and his resume was folded. I was honored by the emperor, a parking consultant for a long time, and tried western languages. I was so happy that I was led by the eunuch Li and drove into the palace. Orders: Zhang Chang, the adult of hall of mental cultivation, will take care of it, and it will be announced for use. (Complete Records of the Five Lucky Fathers in the South of the Yangtze River)
It can be seen that Emperor Kangxi not only went to the Catholic Church to meet the missionaries, but also took them into the palace and ordered hall of mental cultivation official Zhang Changchang to take care of them and wait for the opportunity to consult the missionaries. Nanjing is an important missionary place. Before Matteo Ricci went to Beijing in the late Ming Dynasty, he stayed in Nanjing. Besides Hong Ruo and Bi Jia mentioned above, Tam Ying, the first bishop of China, also preached here and had close contacts with missionaries and China Christians.
We saw that in the first five southern expeditions, Kangxi met with western missionaries for the purpose of "being a distant person". When they met, they were usually "very happy", and they accepted food, food and silver. However, in the last southern expedition (1717), the situation changed suddenly, although it was only more than a year after the previous southern expedition (1715). Why is Kangxi's attitude towards missionaries so different? Let's briefly review this history first.
Around 1711, the debate about Chinese etiquette in Europe reached a climax, which affected China. In 1712, Jesuits collected opinions on the etiquette of offering sacrifices to ancestors and offering sacrifices to Confucius all over China, from emperors, ministers to ordinary literati and Christians, and presented them to the Holy See for reference. It was in this situation that Doro was sent to the Far East at the order of Pope Clemens XI (1711-1721), and the purpose of his visit to China was to ban the rituals of offering sacrifices to Confucius and ancestors. Doro left Europe in 1713, passed through India and the Philippines, arrived in Macau in April 1715, then set off for the north and arrived in Beijing on February 4 of that year. At the beginning, Doro concealed the real mission of coming to China, and was vague about the emperor's inquiry. He only said that he thanked Kangxi for his "gentleness and kindness" to the missionaries, so he was received by Emperor Kangxi with unprecedented enthusiasm.
However, after Doro publicly came to China to ban ancestor worship and worship Confucius, Emperor Kangxi was furious and stopped treating Doro well, and appointed the eldest son of the emperor, Zhijun Wang, to be responsible for negotiating with missionaries. In August 1716, Doro left Beijing and sailed south along the canal, ready to return to Europe.
If the etiquette dispute was only an internal affair of Catholicism before this, it gradually evolved into a diplomatic crisis between the Holy See and the Qing court. Feeling that the imperial power had been interfered by foreign countries, Kangxi was greatly displeased, so he issued a decree in February, 1716, demanding that missionaries in China come to Beijing to get "tickets" in order to obtain the qualifications for missionary and residence, and began to restrict the activities of missionaries. But at the same time, Kangxi was ready to communicate with the Vatican and sent several groups of Jesuits to Rome to mediate. The archives collected in Europe record the process and general contents of Kangxi's request for the missionaries to get tickets:
Foreign ministers He Shiheng, Zhang Changchang, and hall of mental cultivation Kanzao, etc., all of whom live in Catholic churches in various provinces and have tickets printed by the internal affairs office, are allowed to walk and live, without prohibition, and those who do not print tickets are not allowed to live in any church. All westerners, old and new, who come to Beijing to get tickets in various provinces shall not be stopped, but they will not stay for a long time, and they will be urged to travel to and from Beijing quickly. Later, they will write the names of the ticket holders and give them to the coated adults, who will be saluted by the Iraqi government and transferred to the provinces by the ritual department. Such as the cause of the problem, serve the purpose: according to the discussion. Give it to the ritual department. I admire this.
when westerners come to Beijing to give tickets to those who have tickets, they will leave your department, and the number of westerners who have printed tickets through the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be transferred together. Subsequently, the westerners were given tickets to those who lived in the hall, and there was no need to expel them. Those who did not give tickets were not allowed to stay, and they were expelled to Macao. Those who were willing to get tickets did not have to stay there for a long time and came to Beijing as soon as possible. Therefore, the names of those who gave tickets to those who did not give tickets were listed and transferred to your department, and the provinces that passed through Zhili were informed accordingly. For this reason, we inform you that when you arrive at the Ministry, you can also consult the provinces in Zhili accordingly.
After this decree was issued, some missionaries came to Beijing to collect tickets. When Doro learned this news, he had arrived in Nanjing, and he took a tough response. On October 25, 1717, he issued a "Nanjing Decree", demanding that all missionaries in China strictly prohibit Chinese etiquette. This decision made Kangxi even more angry and further escalated the diplomatic crisis between the Holy See and the Qing court. From February 1716 to March 1717, Doro stayed in Nanjing for about three months and then returned to Guangzhou, where he was going to wait for French or British trading ships to return to Europe. However, as soon as he arrived in Guangzhou, he received an imperial edict and was ordered not to board the ship and return, asking him to stay in Macao for a while. In June 1717, Doro and his entourage, escorted by officials, arrived in Macao again and lost their personal freedom. Doro, who was consecrated as a cardinal, died in Macao prison in June, 1711.
Let's look back at Emperor Kangxi's last southern tour. The itinerary is something like this: On February 24th, 1717, Kangxi set out from Beijing, accompanied by the Crown Prince, the eldest son of the Emperor (king of Duoluozhi County), thirteen sons of the Emperor, fifteen sons and sixteen sons. After Dongchangfu, he arrived in Jining on February 11, arrived at Baotawan Palace in Yangzhou on March 31, and arrived in Nanjing on April 8 through Jurong. During his stay in Nanjing, he watched the military exercises and paid homage to Ming Taizu's Xiaoling Mausoleum, and left Nanjing on April 3. After Jurong, Zhenjiang, Changzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Songjiang and Jiaxing, he arrived in Renhe (Hangzhou) in April and stayed in the West Lake Palace. After Jiaxing, Suzhou House, Dantu and Yangzhou (Jiawu in April, Baotawan Palace), they returned to the north.
We saw that this southern tour happened just after Doro issued the Nanjing edict, so Emperor Kangxi was in extreme anger at the envoy of the Holy See and lost his original kindness to the missionaries. When he met the missionaries on the way, he asked them to choose their position and decide whether to stay or not.
Missionaries have long established churches in the main roads of land and water transportation, such as Linqing, Yangzhou and Nanjing. Kangxi specially sent the King of Zhijun (that is, the eldest son of the emperor and the eldest prince Yin Gui) to summon missionaries in these places to ask them in detail about etiquette. According to the imperial court's will, missionaries can only live permanently in China if they abide by Matteo Ricci's rules and get tickets, otherwise they will be deported to Macau or returned to China.
Linqing is mainly the residence of Franciscans, and Beijing Bishop Yi Daren also lives there. After Kangxi arrived in Linqing, he specially called and met with Franciscans. Most of them planned to collect tickets and accept inquiries, and said that they would abide by the imperial edict. However, they did not immediately give them invoices at that time, which meant a further investigation.
when he arrived in Huai' an, Kangxi found that no missionaries had come to ask for tickets, so he asked Dominique Parrenin, a French Jesuit.