Rome () – The rediscovery of the missionary style of Matteo Ricci and the other European Jesuits of the Ming court, between the 16th and 17th centuries, is a topic that has long occupied a prominent place in reflection about Christianity in China. Even Pope Francis has often pointed to it as a model for the encounter between dialogue and evangelization. However, there is an aspect that remains little known in this page of the history of the Church in Asia: how also some Chinese women – in the shadow of men of letters, in a society in which they generally enjoyed very little space – were able to receive baptism and become missionaries themselves thanks to their testimony. Their stories are the focus of an article by the Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, former director of the Vatican Press Office, which was published in the new issue of the magazine “La Civilta Cattolica” and it is written from the writings that the missionary Jesuits in China left about their work.
It was by no means taken for granted that Christianity would also reach women. In fact, as recalled by Fr. Lombardi, “in Chinese society, women had to lead an extremely isolated life, under the strict control of their fathers, husbands and relatives. Therefore, the direct relationship of missionaries with them was practically impossible, indeed, it had to be avoided , so as not to provoke rejection and suspicion. So much so that the Jesuits soon abandoned the clothing and lifestyle of the bonzes to adopt that of the literati. Although the women of the town frequented the bonzes, social control over the women of the educated classes was very strict”.
As early as 1589, when Fr. Ruggieri and Fr. Ricci had performed just 70-80 baptisms in Zhaoqing, his first residence in China, in that small community the presence of “some honorable matrons, who give great credit and support Christianity in homes” is mentioned. “But it was probably around 1601,” Fr. Lombardi points out, “when there was a real turning point, when the wish of the neophytes to have their wives baptized as well was accepted. It was above all Fr. Nicolò Longobardo, missionary in Shaozhou, who defended the cause and obtained the consent of Matteo Ricci.
This did not eliminate the practical difficulties, but the Jesuits found that grace worked beyond all obstacles. The archives of the time tell what happened to a mandarin who had decided to be baptized: “His mother and grandmother went before him, they preceded him in baptism, while he was both catechumen and catechist. After listening to the Doctrine , he would go and inform them of everything, and thus, little by little, they catechized very well. They were baptized on the day of Santa Ana, in the presence of two of his children. The Father gave them the instructions and the necessary questions and found them very well catechized. The mother was called María and the grandmother was Ana”.
The p. Lombardi adds that the sources relate how these baptized Christians “liked to meet other women of lower social status, even peasants, who had also become Christians, and treated them “like sisters”, which was an occasion of “great astonishment “.
At a certain point, women also played an important role in the spread of Christianity at the Beijing court. It happened when, during the reign of the last Ming emperor, Chongzhen, the German Jesuit Adam Schall von Bell managed to establish a relationship with the eunuch Wang, a man of rare wisdom and virtue, who converted to Christianity and was baptized with the name of Joseph. . Through him, the Christian faith spread among the ladies of the court, whom he catechized and eventually baptized, following Father Schall’s instructions. In 1640, these Christian court ladies already numbered 50 and received spiritual guidance from the Jesuit in writing through Joseph, the only one who could have contact with them. In 1644, however, came the end of the Ming dynasty, which was defeated by the Qing; at that time, this community also dispersed, as the women returned to their families.
However, it was not just a hidden contribution of women to the spread of Christianity in China. And among them – observes Fr. Lombardi – there were some who “thanks to favorable family and social conditions became true pillars of a dynamic Church”. The best-known name is that of Candida, one of the daughters of Jacobo, in turn the only son of Xu Guangqi, the most famous and influential disciple and friend of Father Matteo Ricci, who converted to Christianity in 1603. Already in 1688, his spiritual father, Fr. Philippe Couplet, recounted her story in Europe in a book entitled “Story of a Chinese Christian Lady.” Raised in Sungkiang (Songjang, current district of the Shanghai metropolis), Candida was given in marriage to a wealthy and influential figure, pagan but respectful of her Christian faith; she was widowed at age 30 after giving him eight children. It was precisely this condition – together with her decision not to remarry because she “did not want to be more than God” – that allowed her to lead a very active life serving the Christian community for the next 40 years.
Without neglecting the obligations of her family, Cándida was a master in making embroidery on silk fabrics, which she did with her sisters, daughters and domestic employees. Thanks to them, she collected not a few sums, which according to Fr. Couplet, she “secretly used, according to the advice of the Gospel, to help the missionaries, the poor, to build churches and chapels and everything necessary for the exercise of piety of the new Christians”. Thus, she did not resort to her family assets, which were to be an inheritance for her children, but to the fruits of her personal labor, which she dedicated to charity with freedom and pride of conscience.
Between 1647 and 1665, Fr. Francesco Brancati, a Jesuit from Palermo and a great apostle of the Christian community in Shanghai, built no fewer than 90 churches and 45 oratories. A work in which Cándida collaborated with offerings, sacred furniture and other initiatives. But his apostolate was truly comprehensive, with special attention to women. He made the missionaries understand – writes Fr. Lombardique, in order to convert women, who couldn’t go to church, had to write devotionals in Chinese. The Jesuits did it, and Cándida, for his part, dedicated himself to distributing them and giving them to all the women he could find. She also insisted that there should be a church specifically dedicated to women, where they could attend the celebration of the Eucharist together at certain times, with no more male presence than that of the priest and an altar boy, and where the priest could preach, albeit face-to-face. to the altar and not to the faithful present.
“If his great grandfather, Xu Guangqi, had demonstrated with facts that the Christian faith could inspire the commitment of a lifetime dedicated to science, wisdom and the service of his country, up to the highest degrees of responsibility”, he continues Father Lombardi, “her granddaughter Cándida demonstrated that the Christian faith could encourage the commitment and responsibility of a Chinese woman to the point of serving as a model and inspiration to all her compatriots”.
Cándida died in 1680. According to the custom of the time, she had a silver cross engraved with her profession of faith: “I believe, I hope, I love the Lord of Heaven, one God in three persons, leaning on the sacred merits of Jesus. I believe firmly and fervently await the forgiveness of my sins, the resurrection of my body and eternal life”. The p. Lombardi writes that Fr. Couplet, concluding his biography of Candida, noted: “All the people of the city of Sungkiang regarded this woman as a saint.” And he adds: “We too.”
In the photo: Cándida in the biography dedicated to her by Fr. Couplet in 1688.
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