This Suffering Is My Joy: The Underground Church in Eighteenth-Century China

Tracing the little-known history of the first underground Catholic church in China, Mungello illuminates the century between the imperial expulsion of missionaries in 1724 and their return with European colonialism in the 1800s. This time of persecution offered an opportunity for the Chinese, rather than Europeans, to control their own church.

ISBN-13: 9781538173978

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers - Inc.

Publication Date: 08-17-2022

Pages: 186

Product Dimensions: 5.97(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.51(d)

D. E. Mungello is professor of history emeritus at Baylor University. His books include The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800, Drowning Girls in China: Female Infanticide since 1650, Western Queers in China: The Fight to the Land of Oz, and The Catholic Invasion of China.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Author’s Note 1 The Underground Church in China Historical Background The Auspicious Beginning of Catholicism in China The Eighteenth-Century Crisis 2 Matteo Ripa’s Attempt to Establish a School for Chinese Priests in China Fr. Matteo Ripa’s Spiritual Vision Ripa’s Journey to China Ripa at the Chinese Court Ripa’s First School for Boys Opposition to Ripa’s School Ripa Departs Beijing with Five Chinese The Journey from Guangzhou (Canton) to London and Naples 3 Founding of the Chinese College for Priests in Naples Financial Struggles in Founding the Chinese College The First Chinese College Graduates Return to China Problems with Chinese Students in Naples More Students Arrive from China Lucio Wu as Ripa’s “Perpetual Cross to Bear” Lucio’s Second Flight and Imprisonment in Castel Sant’Angelo 4 Racial and Cultural Tensions between Chinese and European Priests Fr. Filippo Huang in China Fr. Huang’s Struggles as a Missionary in Northern Shanxi Growing Tensions between Chinese and European Priests Anti-Christian Movement (“Great Persecution”) of 1784 5 Emergence of the Underground Church The Underground Church in Japan The Formation of Chinese Jesuit Priests Chinese Priests and Catechists in Sichuan The Formation of Chinese Underground Priests Christian Virgins (Chaste Women) in Sichuan Chinese Priests in Jiangnan 6 European and Chinese Forms of Martyrdom Sacrifice and Martyrdom among Chinese Priests and Catechists Indigenous Chinese Catholic Leadership Mendicant Martyrdoms Chinese Christian Martyrdoms Conclusion Bibliography Index Show More