Parallel Lives, Congenial Visions: Christian Precursors of Modernity in China and Japan

by Leopold Leeb

Overview

This book introduces the history of cultural exchanges between East Asia and the West through comparative biographical sketches of sixty personalities from China and Japan. These sketches illustrate how both countries, starting from a shared cultural heritage in script and Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist worldviews, took rather different approaches in their encounters with the European world'since the 16th to 17th centuries. In particular in the 19th century under external and internal pressure, both nations strove to modernize their societies by introducing technology and new ideas from the Western world, turning them into political rivals and even enemies. Thus, these biographical sketches also shed some light on the general dynamics of cross-cultural interactions between China, Japan, and the West up to the early 20th century.

The Chinese and Japanese men and women presented in this book are outstanding personalities who tried to open up the road to international relationships, pioneers in their respective domains who introduced Western culture to their nations, precursors who strove for modernization, e.g., in the fields of translation, education, medicine, media, and social welfare. They testify to individual agency in these cross-cultural exchanges. Many of those who tried to be “cultural bridge-builders” since the 16th century were Christians, simply because the missionaries, who worked hard to learn the native languages of China and Japan, were the first to introduce new cultural elements to these countries. The universal scope and vision of the Christian faith enabled both missionaries and native believers to overcome narrow nationalism or xenophobia and turned them into cross-cultural mediators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032623306
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/30/2025
Series:	Collectanea Serica. New Series
Pages:	294
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Leopold Leeb studied philosophy and theology in Mödling (near Vienna) and Chinese philosophy at Fu Jen Catholic University, Taipei, and at Beijing University. He received his Ph.D. from the latter with a dissertation on the Han dynasty mathematician, astronomer and writer Zhang Heng. From 1999 till 2004 he worked as a researcher and translator at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Since 2004 he is professor at Renmin University, Beijing, where he teaches Latin, Ancient Greek, Ancient Hebrew, and the history of Western literature. His research also focuses on the history of Christianity in China. He has published widely in China, among others an introduction to the language and thought of the Bible, language courses in Latin, Latin dictionaries, a dictionary on Chinese theology and the series “English-Chinese Summaries of Western Classics,” of which volume 5 has been published 2020. Recently, he published the monograph One Dragon, Two Doves: A Comparative History of the Catholic Church in China and in Vietnam (2022).

Table of Contents

Preface by He Guanghu

Preface by Muraoka Takamitsu

Preface by the Author

Introduction

Chapter One: The Trailblazers’ Guides: Anjirō (ca. 1520–1565) and Zhong Mingren (1562–1621)

Chapter Two: The First Translators of European Texts: Yohoken (ca. 1510–1596) and Xu Ruohan

(ca. 1670–1740) 9

Chapter Three: Noble Promoters of Military Reforms: Ōtomo Sōrin (1530–1587) and Xu Guangqi

(1562–1633)

Chapter Four: “Grace” and “Brilliance”: Hosokawa Garasha (1563–1600) and Candida Xu

(1607–1680)

Chapter Five: Pioneers of Comparative Philosophy: Fukansai (1565–1621) and Yang Tingyun

(ca. 1557–1628)

Chapter Six: The First Native Priests: Kimura (1565–1622) and Luo Wenzao (1617–1691)

Chapter Seven: The First Travelers to Europe: Itō Mancio (1569–1612) and Zheng Manuo

(1633–1673)

Chapter Eight: Precursors of the Internationalization of the Script: Dourado (1567–1620) and

Wang Zheng (1571–1644)

Chapter Nine: The First Editors of Bilingual Dictionaries: Martin Hara (1568–1629) and

Huang Risheng (1679–1716)

Chapter Ten: The Earliest Celebrities in Europe: Hasekura Tsunenaga (1571–1622) and

Shen Fuzong (ca. 1658–1692)

Chapter Eleven: Western Art in the East: Jacobus Niva (Ni Yagu, 1579–1638) and You Wenhui

(1575–1633)

Chapter Twelve: Hope of the Suppressed: Amakusa Shirō (1622–1638) and Wang Maria

(ca. 1855–1900)

Chapter Thirteen: Interrogation of a Messenger from the West: Arai Hakuseki (1657–1725) and

Kangxi (r. 1662–1722)

Chapter Fourteen: Early Students of Western Medicine: Gao Leisi (1732–1795), Yang Dewang

(1733–1798), and Sugita Genpaku (1733–1817)

Chapter Fifteen: The First Teachers of Western Languages: Ogata Kōan (1810–1863) and Xue Madou

(ca. 1780–1860)

Chapter Sixteen: Organizers of Modern Media: Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835–1901) and Ying Lianzhi

(1866–1926)

Chapter Seventeen: Creators of Universities: Yan Yongjing (1838–1898) and Niijima Jō

(1843–1890)

Chapter Eighteen: Entrepreneurs and Philanthropists: Shibusawa Eiichi (1840–1931) and Lu Bohong

(1875–1937)

Chapter Nineteen: The First Female Physicians: Ogino Ginko (1851–1913) and Jin Yamei (1864–1934) 135

Chapter Twenty: Pioneers of Women’s Education: Tsuda Umeko (1864–1929) and Zeng Baosun

(1893–1978)

Chapter Twenty-One: Faith on the Way to Inculturation: Uemura Masahisa (1858–1925) and Zhao Zichen

(T.C. Chao, 1888–1979)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Fathers of Constitutional Law: Ume Kenjirō (1860–1910) and Wu Jingxiong

(1899–1986)

Chapter Twenty-Three: Creators of an Image of the East: Nitobe Inazō (1862–1933) and Gu Hongming

(1857–1928)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Independent Prophets: Uchimura Kanzō (1861–1930) and Wang Mingdao

(1900–1991)

Chapter Twenty-Five: Pioneers in the Study of History: Saeki Yoshirō (1871–1965) and Chen Yuan

(1880–1971)

Chapter Twenty-Six: The First Students of Classical Hebrew: Kotsuji Setsuzō (1887–1965) and

Li Rongfang (1899–1973)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Indigenization of Christian Art: Chen Yuandu (1903–1967) and Watanabe Sadao

(1913–1996)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Life for the Poor: Wu Yongbo (1916–2002) and Kitahara Satoko (1929–1958)

Conclusion: Two Nations on the Way to Modernity