Author Description

"The readers will find in this book a momentous study on Christian dialogic writings that flourished in the Catholic missions in late Ming China. It particularly focuses on the mission work of the Italian Jesuit Giulio Aleni (Ai Rulüe, 1582-1649) in Fujian, and the unique text Kouduo richao (Diary of Oral Admonitions, 1630-1640) recording the religious and intellectual conversations among the Jesuits and local converts. By examining the mechanisms of dialogue in Kouduo richao and other Christian works distinguished by a certain dialogue form, I aim to reveal the formation of a hybrid Christian-Confucian identity in late Ming Chinese religious experience. The book also offers a reconsideration of methodologies used in recent scholarship. My critical reflections will lead to a new approach, i.e., dialogic hybridization. The approach not only treats dialogue as an important yet underestimated genre in late Ming Christian literature, but it also uncovers a self-other identity complex in the dialogic exchanges of the Jesuits and Chinese scholars. The book is a multi-faceted investigation of the religious, philosophical, ethical, scientific, and artistic topics discussed among the Jesuits and late Ming scholars. This comprehensive research echoes what the distinguished sinologist Erik Zürcher (1928-2008) said about the richness and diversity of Chinese Christian texts produced in the 17th and 18th centuries. This book presents another major study featuring a set of new findings beyond the endeavours of Zürcher and other scholars. With the key concept of Christian-Confucian dialogism, it tells an intriguing story of Aleni's mission work and the thriving Christian communities in late Ming Fujian"--