Cartografia China

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THE HUMAN BODY AS A UNIVERSE;

UNDERSTANDING HEAVEN BY VISUALIZATION ANDSENSIBILITY IN JESUIT CARTO GRAPHY IN CHINA

BY

Hui-HiiNti C H E N *

This paper discusses tbe religious ineanhi^ of Jesuit w orld maps tbatwere proditteel in Cbincf by tbeir Diissionctries from tbe lute siA'teenthto tbe seveuteentb centuries. These world maps serve as a risualproofto empbasize tbe gtvattiess of tbe ivorUI and the minusctile na ture ofmem. and by means of tbese maps man can see" tbe trtitb of Codbecause of tbe risual ability granted via GocTs omnipotence. Jesuitcartography is not only a visual image of geograpbical configura-tion. It paved tbe w ay for tbe comptx'bension of tbe Creators signifi-cance. It ivas an embodiment of tbe Renaissance tradition ofcartog-rapby as tbe grapbicat representation of tbe universe, ivbicb included

tbe idea of understanding natuiv tbrougb matbematical science aswell as of understanding Heaven by visualization and sensibility. Intbis Renaissance traditi<m. geograpfyy wcis associated witb cosmo l-ogy tbat was based upon Cbristian tbeologv. and Aristotle's sensibil-

ity toward tbe com pivbension of tbe universe formed tbe coiv ofCatbolic epistemology and natural pbilosopby. Tbe ivligious implica-tions of Jesuit cartograpby in Cbina e.xplain boiv tbe Jesuits couldbave used it strategically in tbeir evangelization.

'Dr, Chen is an itssLstant professor of hisu>r>' in National Taiwan University,Taiwan,

The finai version of tliis paper was revised accortling to the constrtiaive commcnLs of

tw o anonym ous review ers. She wishes u> express her d eep sraii l t ide (o them, and espt '-

cially for the detailed line-by-litie comments and rewording provided hy one of tiicni.

This article is a revised versio n ol' ;tn earlier pap er wilh ih e sam e litle prese nte d al Ihe

Second International Junior Scholars' Conference on Sinology, National Tsing Htiii

Universitj', Hsinchu,Taiwan, in Novemlier 2(X)4. The auth or is grateful to the com me nta-

tor and the professors from the university for their insights and sugsesiions.The con-

ference paper had heen revised fmm herdissertation,"Knctiunters in Peoples, Religions,

and Sciences: Jesuit Visual c:ullure in Seve nteenth Century Cliina" (Ph,I), dissertation,

Brown University, 2001), She wou ld like to exp ress sniiiiiid e to her adviser. ProfessorJeffrey Mtiller. for his advic e on the original r esear ch, ami lo Professor Pingyi Chu , an



518 THE mnWAN BODY AS A UNIVERSE

In his preface to the world m ap Wanguo qucintu S M ^ S iUnirersal

Map of Countries), which was m ade in Cliina around 1620, the Jesuitm issionary G iulioA leni (1582-1649) states,"T he hum an body is a sm alluniverse" (Fig. 1):

S i

Although m y body in the universe is so minuscule an d only on e point, th e

capacities of the soul were endowed hy the Creator, so that I can com pre-

hend th e whole Heaven an d Earth an d come to sonic understanding of the

real master of the universe. It is said: th e so<:allcd human body is a small

universe. Because we believe in this an d understand that th e physical body

is so small in size, we will n ot become hauj;ht>. Moreover,because our intel-

lectual mind—in contrast to the small physical body—will perceive th e

supreme greatness, there is no reason to abandon oneself and be self-

derogatory. If we understand all of these things, the Heaven an d Eirth seen

by the eyes are not illusory.'

InAleni's eyes, the whole hum an hody bears the full m eaning of theuniverse. On the one hand, the world map serves as a visual proof toemphasize the greatness of the world and the minuscule nature of thehuman: on the other hand, because of the ability to visualize—one ofthe talents gnitited to us by an all-powerful God, humans "can see"through, and by means of a world map to perceive the truth of God.With God s grace, on e un derstands the value of m an, and therefore weshould not undervalue ourselves. It thus appears that Jesuit cartogra-phy is not only a visual image of a geograpliical configuration."- It alsopaved the way for the com prehen sion of the Creator's sign ificatice.

'(iiiilio Alc-ni. Wanguo tu xiaoyin W f f l l ' H I (L ittle P reface of the W a ng i i o t u ) . I t o n l ya p p e a r s i n a n e d i t i o n o f Alcni ' s Wanguo quanlu i n t h e Bibl ioteca Apostol ica Val icana

(HAV), cal l n um be r B arbcri ii i Or ien tc 1 5 1 ( l a) . A, m od ern lacsimilc ot" this m a p i s p r o -



BY HUI-HUNG CHEN

Fig, 1. GiulioAleni. W«»?g«o^Hawft/ X B ^ B Wn it>ersat Ma p of Cou ntries), c.

l62().w twjdc ut and co lor on pa per , IJiblioteca Ap ostolica Vaticima, Vatican City,

Barberini Oriente 15! (la), © Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana,Vatican City

This paper intends to discuss the religious meaning of Jesuit worldmaps produced in CJiina by their missionaries from the late Ming tothe early Q ing periods. Aleni's statement quo ted above reveals amethod by which the Jesuits interpreted world maps, and a meaningthai may have been given to this Jesuit cartography destined for theChinese people. The "method" and "meaning" are both related to thereligious dimension of the Jesuits. Cartography was a very important

aspect of the Jesuits' C ihina mission strategy in terms of both visual cul-ture and sciences. How Jesuits used cartography as part of their visual



5 20 THE HUMAN BODY AS A UNIVERSE

more considered among the scientific achievements of the missionar-

ies, and thus valued from scientific perspectives.'

Cartography as art and art in cartography are complicated historicalquestions in western civilization. R ecent scholarly studies from the

perspectives of both the history of cartography and the history of art

have attempted to elahorate on the sophisticated nature of cartogra-phy. T heir methodological reflections on the relationsloips betweenartistic and scientific methods, between form and content, and

between aesthetics and function have led to stimulating discussions inseveral areas of scholarsliip.^ Cartography as a graphic mode of

expression" or "a visual image of geographical configuration" shouldnot be excluded from the topic of visual culture.'^ Cartography is

regarded as an art," in the current tendency to treat it as a "genre of

pictorial image," to bo rro w M arcia Kupfer's term.' ' R eading maps is a

process of reading images, so the iconographical character of mapsbecomes the central theme of the interpretation. Particularly interest-ing is that the Jesuit mapping techniques demonstrated a visual lan-

guage different, both in form and content, from what was presented inthe local traditions. T his visual language, as I will argue, cannot be

understood without the missionary con texts. T lierefore, the religiousdimension in the Jesuit cartography is crucial for deciphering that visu-alit>', for a religious m eaning is embedd ed into the iconography of theirmaps.Thanks to recent scholarship on the question of cartography as

art, w e are encouraged to investigate the iconography of Jesuit cartog-raphy in Cbina, then to look for the religious meaning associated withthe iconography. We can understand A lenis words in the above quota-tion to be a Jesuit iconographical interpretation of the world map. Thispaper will discuss the religious meaning of the Jesuit world maps in

China by looking into how and by what means the Jesuits presentedand interpreted their graphic m ode of expression" or "visual image of

'For instance, the recently camprehensive reference to the Jesuits or Christianity in

China put tlic topic -cartography" under the category of "science and technology," sepa-

rate from the category of "ans, crafts, and language." See Nicolas Standacrt. ed.. Hand-

book of Christianity' in China, Volume One, fCi^f-lNOO) (Uiden. 2001). pp. "">2.809.

'l\»r a review of these scholarly reflections about cartography, see David Woodward s



B Y H U I - H U N G C H E N 521

geographical conJlguration" to the Chinese. The m ethod that the

Jesuits used, within the framework of European cartography, issumm ed up in tw o categories: visualization and sensibility. •.

Jesuit World Maps in China

The world map of Matteo Ricci's (1552-1610) is the first Europeanexample of its kind presented to the Chinese. Ricci displayed his mapto the Chinese for the first time in 1583-8J in Zhaoqing SB?, a pre-fecture of the Province of Guangdong (MM^)< almost immediately

after he arrived in Macau in 1582.^ It is ohvious that Ricci had broughtthis map with him from Europe, hi the Jesuit educational system, math-ematics and astronomy were among the basic training courses torJesuit students and were seen as a necessary preparation for theologi-cal studies." Maps could be used as visual material embodying theteachings of mathematics and astronomy. Ricci probably brought mapsfor the Jesuits' own academic uses, that is for the same reason that heimported mathematical devices such as the glolie and clocks. It is notsurprising to notice that Euclid s geometry, arithmetic, geography andcosmography, perspective, and horolog\'—assigned courses for Jesuitmathematical training—can all be found in their theoretical and mate-rial fields for the Jesuit China mission.''Jesuit engagement in mathe-matical and astronomical knowledge should be understood within thelarger Jesuit intellectual structure. Ciiven the study (jf these disciplinesas preparation for divine knowledge, their introduction to the Chinesewas aimed at persuading non-Christians to study Heavenly doctrines,in Chinese tianxue ^ i ^ Oiterally meaning "Heavenly Studies").

Among the several European books brought into China by theJesuits in the early years of the mission. Abraham Ortelius" Theatntmorbis terrarum (Antwerp, 1570) was tbe only European publicationwhose title Ricci included in his list of objects presented to the

.d'BiA,ii>nti Ricciane:D ocum enti oiiginali toncerne/iti Ma tteo Ricci a la

storia delleprime reiazioni tia lHuropa e la Cimi (1579-1615). StorUt deiliJitrodttzione

del Cristianesimo in Cina saitta da Matteo Ricci. 3 vols. (Rom e. 1942-1949). 1. p. 207.

^Nicolas Sta nd acr t.Tl if ("lassjtication of Sciences and thc jestiit Mission in l^tf M ii ^China." in Linked Va iths:lissays on Chinese Religions & Traditional Cultiin' in Honour



522 THE HUMAN BODY AS A UNIVERSE

Chinese Emperor.'" However, Pasquale D'Elia, the remarkable scholar

on Ricci's oeuvre, has argued that the European map Ricci displayed inZhaoqing could have not been O rtelius' atlas since the latter arrived onthe mainland at a later date, and that there are not enougli existingsources to be certain which map Ricci showed at the tim e," T he firstpublic appearance of the European-style world map, shown by Ricci in

1583-84, brought about telling reactions from local peo ple, includingthat of the Prefect of Zhaoqing ( K^^Qfi? ) Wang Pan ^^ .Wang urgedRicci to annotate the map in Chinese and to print and distribute it all

over C bina.T he first edition of Ricci s world map in Chinese was enti-tled Shanhai ytidi qiuintu liJ)§SJ%%^ iVniversal Map of Mountain,Sea, ami Geography) or Yudisbanhai quantu ^ if tU j S ^ S (UnwersalM ap of Cieogmphy, Mountain, and .SV^).'-Afterwards this map was

repeatedly revised and reprinted, for examp le, in N anchang (c . 1596),Nanjing (l600), and Beijing (16O1-16O3).'^ The Beijing example of

1602 was supervised by Li Zhizao ^tM (c, 1564-1630), and devel-oped a refined format with additional supplementary contents and

comm entaries. This was the exemplar most often cited, and the final

version of Riccis mappamundi was re-entitled Ktinyu wangiioquantu ^^MMM^^ iUniversal Map of tbe World and Countries)(Eig. 2).''* The l6O3 edition from Beijing is also in a larger scale and

format even than the one of 1602, and entitled Liangyi xnanUin Hi

{Universal Map of the Heaven and iV irrfe). A lthough tliis

,pp, 90,114,123;NicolasTrigault (1577-1628),

Sixteenth Century: The Journal of Matthew Ricci: I5H,i-I6lO, trans, IxtuisJ. Gallagher

(N ew Y ork. 1953). p. 364."P;isqiiale D E lia, trans, and anno., // Map/Mmondo Cinese del P Matteo Ricd S.I.

(V atican C ity, 193S ), p. 169; D Kiia, f-tmti Ricciane, I. p. 207.

' - D E l i a , Fotiti Ricciane. 1. p p . 2(r-209:11. pp. 58-59.

" A b o u t the history of the printing t)f Ricci s world maps, the following studies are

still seen as of the most c om prehen sive: H ung Weiliang ^^^ . "Kao U mado u de shijie

d i t u " * * ! « » « t * ! * t f e B (On the World Map of M atteo Ricci) , Yu gong ban yue kan

* » * S f d ('//,(. Chinese Historical Geography) 5 (1936) . 2-5: Fang Hao S « . Li zhizao

yaiijiu * 5 . a W 5 i ( O H /.( Z/imm) (Taipei, 1966), pp 78-79: Qto Waurii *«**Q et al,.

"Zliongguo xiancun limadou shijie dilu dc yanjiu"' ' I 'H IB miH IW tffS^thlH Wft (Study of

the World Map of M atteo H icci Extant in China). «(•««•« ^ H 12 (1983), 57-70. At least

sixteen copies and editions of Ricci s mappamundi dated from the sixteenth and sev-

enteenth centuries are extant in I -urope,China,Taiwan. and Japan.



B Y H l ll - H I I N G C H E N 523

Fig, 2. Matlco Ricci, Knnyu wtmgiut timiulu ' WWHi BB ({/uiivrseil Map of

the World and Countries). 16()2, woodcut on paper, Biblioteca Apostolica

Vaiicana, Vatican City, Barbcrini Oriente 150 (1-6), © Biblioteca Apostolica

Vaticana,Vatican City

1603 edition was expanded to eiglit vertical scrolls, compared to the

six scrolls of the Kunyu wanguo cpiantu. in principle it follows the1602 edition. However, this edition is less well known hecause of the

fewer extant copies and versions based on it. Ricci s map certainlygained much interest and popularity, as many revisions and reprintswere made up to 1603 in (^hina.atid even later in Japan,''^

The universal mapping method of Ricci is hasically founded on

Ptolemy's model, but it seems intentionally to modify Cliina's positionwith respect to the otlier continents byplacing Cliina in the middle (the

fourth scroll from the right side)."'This can he demonstrated whenRicci's map is compared with a Eun>pean world mapof the same time,for instance, with one from Ahraham Ortelius' Tbeatrum orbis ter-

raruni, a version of which was sent tt) the Chinese court (c:hina on the

fili sevcra! Riin)pt';in niap>, suih ;is ihosc by Ortflitis and (k-nird Mtrcaior,

were also brouglu 10 Japan via missioiuriei. Ricci.s world map, serving as ihc standard

formal in the mandarin style for neighboring Japan, played a significant mle in tbe

ni(»dern world cartography of this countr>\ t)ne annotation of a Japanese malipamtiniil

of the eighteenth century i,\ll'^'i states that Riccis map was the harbinger of wt-sicmcartography iniriKliued 10 ihe luisl llial projeried a three-dimensional ohject on a flai



524 THE HtlMAN BOtW AS A UNIVERSE

-rypVS ORBIS TERRARVM

Fig. 3. Abrdbatii Ottclius, World Map, from Theatriim orbis terrarlum, 1S7(),color engraving, Leiden University Library, The Netherlands, Atlas 36. © LeidenUtiiversity Ubrdry. Leiden, The Netherlands

far right side) (Fig. 3)- Although, iti contrast to the Chitiese mapping tra-

ditions, the size of China w as diminished on Ricci s m ap in ord er to pres-

ent ati appearance of Cliina relative to the rest of the world, the map's

overall modification was a concession to local mapping traditions. And

yet, the position of China on the whole scale of the worid interms ofhoth quantity and quality, still produced a cultuntlly shocking visual

exp erien ce for the Chinese. On e an ecd ote, about a president of Natijing

looking at the world map that Ricci wanted to present to the Chinese

Em peror, could be th e first w ritte n record de tailing a direet r esp on se to

this new visual tnaterial from a Chinese scholar. Wang Zhon gm ing

i ^ $ g , President of the Board of Rites of Nanjing ( ffi^mSB^S):

The President took great pleasure instudying tbis tablet [on which the

world map was drawn|, wondering that he could .see the great expanse ofthe world depicted on such a small surface, and tbat it contained the names



B V i U U - H U N G C H E N 525

According to Ricci's own account, his observations of popular, sclf-

orientcd Chinese conventions in mapping the world were ba.sed onhis studies of Chinese cartography, thus he might have foreseen the

possible effect of his Furopean-hased map on (Chinese inulitions.'** hi

his famous work on Ricci s map, the Chinese schtJlar HungWeiliang,iftflSi , held that Ricci's interest in Chinese geography upon his arrivalin (Iiina explained why he endeavored to translate European geogni-pliy into Chinese.''' One of the most important sources Ricci used lor

his mapping was Guang yu tu MMB {Atlas of Universal Land), an

atlas based on the work of an earlier cartographer, Zhu Sihen ^.^^(1273-1333), expanded and revised in the sixteenth centurj' by Uio

Hongxian tt^t* (1504-1564) and first printed in 1555. This carto-graphical work had a wide influence on the Chinese geographical tra-

dition.-" According to /hang Zhejia ^WR , the mapping style shownin the maps of th e Guang yu tu was aimed at accuracy, in contrast to

a popular sketchy st>'le seen in .several r\'pes of maps produeed hy the

local gazetteers of Ming China.-' If the Guuttg yu tu pursued accuracyin mapping nu)re than other traditional cartographical modes. Hicci's

reliance on it eould correspond to the missionary \s intention to offera better and more precise mapping skill to the Chinese.

y\fter Ricci's maps (1583-1603), <'ilulio Aleni's world map Wanguoqtiattlu was made around \(iZi), following Ricci's format and contents.Tliis world map was included in some editions of Aleni's geographicalwork. Zhifaug tvaiji ^75^^ (Oescriptiotis of Foreign Lamf), his pref-

ace to which is dated 1623.This preface states that another Jesuit. Diegode Pantoja (1571-1618), on the comm and of the emperor, had translateda different European map.al.so following Ricci s model, but we have no

direct knowledge of this work at the present.--Aleni's Wanguo quantuis mueh smaller in size (49 cm X 24 cm) than Ricci s Kunyu wanguo

^*^irV\vx. Fonti Ricciane. I. pp . 207-210. • '

' '^Hung.'Kao Limadou," p. 7.

-"For the Gtutng yu ttjs itiducncL- on Ricci's geographical work in Chinese , see

(loodman.~P'j|XT Ohclisks," p. 257.

-'Zhang Zhfjia ^**K. Mingtbii fangzhi dr dim" W^^S^SW^kB ,i |,j^. 1 ,., ^ j , , ^^^

Local (lazftttcrs of rhc Ming Dynasty), in Jindai zhungguo dv shijiie biaosbu yu

uenhua goiitu Uff^i 'BWiiil iftaWTT^*:*! , ;;„. i>>.„„/ Representatinns and Cultural




Fig. 4. Ferdinand Verhiest. Kunyu qiututu W?!±H {Universal Map of the

World), 1674, woodcut and color on paper, Kobe City M useum, Japan, ©Kobe

City Museum, Kobe, Japan

quantu (eaeh scroll of whieh is 174 cm X 67 cm. and a total of six

scrolls vertically co nn ec ted ); therefore, the former could he easily m adeto fit into the Zhifang Mwy/.-^'Tlie Jesuit Francesco Samhiasi (1582-

1649) com pose d atid anno tated a no ther world ma p. entit led Kunyu

quantu l^lM^ffl ^Universal Map of tbe World), in Nan-jing in 1633.^*

The most important Jesuit publication of the world map for the China

**Hcre ihc s ize of the ^ttuf-tto ijttanttt is t a k e n f r o m T a k a t o T o k i o ' s c a t a l o g u t - f o r t h e

f d i t i o n h o u s e d in B AV ,oU I n u m b e r H a d w r i n i O r i e n t e 1 5 1 ( l a ) a n d ( l h ) ( t w o c o p i e s ) , s e e

P PelHot,Inv enta ire snmiiuiiif de.t tncniiisctitu el inipn'tnes chitiois cU- Ut liiMiotheque

K«//"tvv«<>.ed,TakataTokio ?KBB*Ji (Kyoto, 1995), The one with the number 151 (la) hasa single image alone, above a prefaee written by Aleni and the colored Wanguo c/uanttt

below.Thai of 151 fib) is al,so a single vet uncolored sheet witb the Wanfitio i/ttaiitti

above and the Beiyu ttilH i t* thB {Sorthi-rn Polar Henii.tphi'n- Maf) anti :\ariyn ililuWflfttiB {Southern P olar Hem isphere M ap) below . This on e is idcntitied as tlie same

as the other extant copies of this work lioused in the Hiblioteca Ambrosiana. Milan, and

in the Bibliotcea nazionale cen trale di Roma. Rome (call num be r 12C-i9i \&Z). For the

une inAmbrosiana.the following catalogue wrongly attributed it lo RieciiFaoIo Revelli.

/ Codici Ambroshini di contenuto geografico, vol. 1 of Fontes Anibrosianl (Milano,

1929), p. 188, Th e information in this catalogue offers t he similar mea surem ent (49,-i cm

X 24,3 cm) as tbat ofBAV s.The

old attribution eould be seen as a result of the pmmi-nen ee of Rieei s role in translating tbe European cartograp hieal mo de into Chinese for



BY Hin-HIING CHEN 5 2 7

mis.si(>n in the second half of the .seventeenth century is the Kuuytt

quatitu (1674) of 1-crdinancl Verbiest (1623-1688). It hears the sametitle as Sambiasi's, yet is in a different format (each scroll 179 cm X 54cm, a total of eight scrolls vertically connected) (Hg. 4). Verbiest's mapconsists of vwo hemispheres, and the two outer scrolls individuallydepict cartouches that contain several kinds of information on geogra-phy and meteorology. I his projection, which had been devised by thefamous cartographer Gerard Mercator C1512-1594) in his Orhis terraecompendiosa descriptio (1587), depicts a different mode from thePtolemiac one, that was illustnited in Ricci s. Aleni s, and Samhiasi's rep-resentations of universal cartography. Although Verbiest s Kunyuquantu was the first Chinese translation of a Mereator projection, weean see a map made with this mapping method that had hung previ-ously on the wall of the Beijing studio of the Jesuit Joliann Adam Schallvon Bell (1591-1666), in a depiction of this missionary's office found inCbinci Iflttstralci (1667) of the Jesuit Athatiasius Kircher (1602-1680)(Fig. 5). The making of Verbiest s Kunyu quantu was intended to meetthe interest of the Kangxi 0??8 emperor, as Verbiest's introductory ded-

ication implies. Tliere are at least fourteen to fifteen copies and editionsof this map dating from the seventeenth century currently extant inEurope, Japan,Taiwan, America, and Australia. ^

Tlirough the above brief history of the Jesuits' making of the worldmap in the China mission, we can see why the m issionaries introducedsuch a map from the very beginning and how the ensuing develo|>ment was part of the im portant work of some major m issionaries. Mostmaps described here w ere printed. That the Jesuits made use of the

Chinese printing industry to distribute the European mode of the uni-

f iihovf intnrm ation aliou i Vcrh icst's Kunyu tpuintu, see Un To

iVrdLniind Vcrbicst 's Contribution to Ctiinesc Geography and Cartography," in

^ » * 1 r<'rrf/»««f/ Verbiest: Jesuit M issionary: Scientist. Enginee r

and Dip/omal. vd.}nhn W Witck (Nettctal, I W H ) , pp 136-l.^S; and his •Nanlniairfn d e

shijie dim— kuny u qnaiiiii ' (R-rdina ndV crbiest 's World Map—K unyu qu antu ). Tktnghai

daxuf lishi xuebaii jesB*:*IIBSfll9S iBulietin of the Grad uate Institute of Histoiy and

the Depa rtment of HIstor}' Tung hai (hiifeisity) S (iyH2X 69-K4: Christine Vcnente,

"Nan Huai-Jen's WtC- Maps of the World," in Sucvi^s et echecs de la rencontiv Chine et

Occident, du XVIe att XXe siecle (San E'nincisco, 1993). pp. 257-265; Moniqui' (.ohcn



528 THE HUMAN BODY ASA tJNIVERSE

Fig, y.Johann Adam Schall von fle//,from Athanasius Kircher's China lllustrata,

1667, eng rav itig, Stanford Unive rsity, U.S.A., RBC DS 708 . K 58 1667F, ©

D ep artm en t of Special Collection s, Stanford University l ibra ries , Stanford, U.S.A.

vcrsal cartogmphy is seen in the several editiotis and copies of Ricci'sand Verbiest's maps. Ricci's and other later Jesuits' studies of Chinesegeography for making the world map were meant to incorporate thegrowing knowledge about "China" into the geography of Jesuit knowl-edge," to use the phrase of Steven H arris .^ This Jesuit case in Chitiaexemplified the "local" and "distributed" characters of their scientificknow ledge, the term "distributed" referring to Jesuit efforts to translate



BY Hin-HUNG CHEN 5 2 9

a European-based map into a C hinese printed version, and to introduce

new geographical knowledge of China back to Europe.^"' Under thistheoretical framework, we can say ihat the value ofje.suit cartographyin (!;hina is contextualized within the Jesuit institutional geographicalne twork, in the sense of Jesuit corporate or organized travels and mis-sions, which played a significant role for the Society, hi this broaderJesuit con text, the religious m eaning of these w orld maps in China canhardly be dismissed, because they were m ade in con junction with theevangelical con cern s of the missionaries.

The Reception of Jesui t C ar tography by the C hin ese

What Jesuit cartograpby commutiicated to the (Chinese people canbe seen in the Chinese perception of European cartography. This per-ception illustrates the differences between two cartographical tradi-tions. Wliile the Jesuits tried to convey implicit Cbristian messages bytheir strategic manipulation of cartography, the Chinese perceivedthese messages in different ways.

First,Jesuit cartography in China communicated to the Chinese thegeographical knowledge of the world, from a European perspective,Alotig with their geographical works composed in ('hinese, such asAleni's Zbifcmg waiji and Verbiest's Kunyu tusbuo *fPJBR iOn theCartograpby of tbe World) (\672^.the Jesuit world maps portray coun -tries other ihan China, all of which are drawn comparatively to scale.By so doing, they place the geographical position of China w ithin theglobal framework tiiore correctly tban did tbe old Chinese geographi-

cal tradition , Ricci s Kunyu wanguo quantu and Aleni s Wanguoquantu both employ wanguo A S Oiterally, tens of tbousands ofcountries) in their titles, and in fact emphasize the comparative scaleof the world in contrast to the dotiiination of China, as it had been por-trayed formerly in Cbinese geography and ideology. For Ricci and theJesuits, one secular and strategic puriiose for using the European geographical knowledge in the missions was to eradicate (Chinese fear ofthe missionaries and of their cotmtries, which were considered by

^'For t h e Jesu i ts ' i n t roduc ing n e w k n o w l e d g e of (!:hina to E u r o p e a n d t h e e n s u i n g



530 T H E m J M A N B O D V A S A U N I V E R S E

Cbinese authority as inhabited by barbarians in the first itistance and

as a political atid military threat as well. By means of the pictorialformat of the European cartograpliical m odel, the Jesuits could explainthe real geographical distance be tween Europe and China, thus show-ing that the potential political and military threat did not exist.Additionally, architectural and other books, showing the beauty ofEuropean cities, palaces, and o ther structures, served as a geographi-cal explanation" in order to enhance Chinese knowledge of Europe.'**Ricci himself presented the following prints to the Chinese court in1 6 0 1 . as recorded in his account: prints of the building of S t. Lawrence

of the Escurial of Spain, and of the church of S t. Mark of Venice, alongwith the arms of the Signoria.^'' In addition to Ricci's account, a simi-lar request appears in a letter written by the Jesuit Iazzaro Cattaneo(1560-1640) on October 12,1599,that indicates tlvdt'algmiscousas diarcfoitectura e uarias impressa di pai;os & de g'la muito em Roma(some architectural objects and various prints of parks and of the[city] wall in Rome)" were needed for the China mission.^" Like theworld maps, the information revealed by these architectural sources

attempted to direct the Chinese audience to an improved concept ofEurope and European geography.

Therefore, this introduction to a fuller vision of the world throughEuropean cartographical models was a completely new experience forthe Cliinese both in visual format and contents. If we consider SamuelEdgerton s "mental matrix" theory for the present discussion, the read-ing of Jesuit w orld maps by the Chinese might have presented a visualchallenge to the local people. Edgerton thought that the western and

eastern mental matrices for mapping were oppositcs of each other.The Chinese grid pattern superimposed on the world appears to havebeen "centripetal—aiming at a central focus," which is different fromthe w estern grid, that was "centrifugal—aiming at expansion and dom-ination."^' As seen from a map of the whole of China made by theChinese in the seventeenth cetitury, the way towards the center ofChina is prominent (Fig. 6 ) . Although this kitid of the map meant thewhole China, it usually and meanwiiile meant the whole world in

Chinese perception.This idea of centripetal movement from the east-



BY HtJI-HUNG CHEN 531

Fig, 6. Viy/ /u ft^B (A/c//) oy" //>? Tracks of f.mperor Yu), wo odc ut, from Wang

Qi i* Jf . co m p. . .^ «« ca /m /m / H^CIBft . (/,7/ tiUg 13 tt (/w «« ), pp , 49-51, from

an ed ition of 1609. Fu-ssu Nicn Ubrary . Instittitc of History' and Philology,

Academ ia Sinica, Taiwan, A041 03 3, © inst itute of History an d Philology,

Academia Sinica,Taipei,Taiwan

ern perspective is demonstrated especially well in a political geognt-phy, which actually dotninatcd the geographical and cartngntphical tra-ditions of China over cen turies (Fig. 7).- ^ A popular style of mappitig itiChinese local gazetteers also shows a centripetal point of view, i.e., itindicates that the perspective of the maker centers first on the impor-tant governmental btiilding of the city or town, such as the city hall,and then looks outward. The central governm ental btiilding isenlarged, while the marginal areas appear diminished, even neglected

(Fig. 8).*-* Perhaps, the contrast between the eastern and w estern con-ceptions for "mapping" countries and peoples on a universal scale is a



53 2 T r a H U M AN BO D Y AS A UNIVERSE

IE?

Fig. 7, Zbou Jiufu tu tH^ SS® (Oiagruiu oJ' Ihe .V///c Dotnuins of the Zhoti).,

woodcut, from Hu Wei ^^ , Yii gong zhuizhi S S » J i (writte n 1694-97), froman ed itio n of 170 5, Fu-ssii Nien Library. Ins titu te of His tory an d Philology,

Academ ia Sinica. Taiwan, 093 .31 31 3, © In stitute of History and Pliilology,

Academia Sinica,Taipei,Taiwan

better and more thoughtful way to explain local respotises restiltingfrom different visual experiences. The explanation can further ourunderstanditig of Cliinese curiosity, as shown in the account of Wang

Zhongming looking at Ricci's map. .



BY H U t H U N G C H E N 533

I'ig, S. Town plan, woodcut, fnim Wanti siiiaii xUmzh i WSiS^RK {CazelteersoJ the Cou nty ofSttiau oJ the Waiili Period), from an edition of 1612, NationalTaiwan U brary,Taiwan, © National Taiwan Librar);Taipei,Taiwan

the conventional ideology held in China over centuries, only the

Heaven be could routid or spherical.^' It is legititiiate, therefore, to

point out the reason for the addition of the sun, moon, and stars to the

globes that God holds in tbe images of the title page and in tbe lastone, the "(-oronation of tbe Virgin Mary," in Aleni s Cliinese woodcutsTianzbu jiangsbeng cbuxiang Jingfie ^iM^Biitmm iHiblicalExplanations and Illustrations of the Heavenly Lords Incarna tion),a work which illustrates the life of Christ (Figs. 9, 10). It is not exactlycorrect to say that the sun, moon, and stars depicted on a globe in

these images are new elements particularly in Cbitiese fasbion,as tbeirEuropean models do not have these elements, because we find a simi-

lar depiction in an engraving of the Flemish printer Maarten de Vos




Fip. 9. Title p.i Utit, from Giulio Alcn i's Tianzhu jiaii^sheng vh

Jirigjie ^2.P;^~; .- . . . (.Biblical Exp lanations and Illustrations of tbe

Heave nly Lord's Incarnation), 16.57, Archivum Romanum Socieiatis Icsu, Italy,JapSin I-l 87, © Archivum Rom anum Socieiatis Icsu, Rom e, Italy

(Fig. 11). ** For the Chinese of the Ming period, a globe cotild only indi-cate a celestial body; by no means could it be used as a visualization ofthe terrestrial entity. So the stin, moon, and stars on the globes in thehands of Christ in Aleni's woodcuts reinl<>rce iheir identification ascelestial bodies. However, the idea of the three-dimensional projec-tions in European cartographical modes could be realized only after ithad been established tiiat tbe Earth is a sphere. Aieni s Beiyu ditu



BY Ht; i -HUNG CHEN 535

Fig. 10. Coronation of the Virgin l/^ i^ '. woodcut, from Giulio Aleni's TianzhuJiangsheng chtLxiungjingiii' ^3;HS!ii«ffi* (Bihliciil livplanalitms and llltistra-lions of the Heiiix'nly Lords htcamution), 16,^7, Archivum Romaiiuni SocietatisIcsu, Italy,JapSin M 87,© Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu, Rome, Italy

^Northern Polar Hemisphetv Map) and Nanyu ditu(Southern Polar Hemisphere Map), incitided in one of the ed itions ofhis V^dnguo quantu, and the depictions of the same hemispheresoccupying prominent positions in the upper and lower left com ers ofRicci s Kunyu wanguo c/nantu, made explicit the Eirth's sphericitylor the purposes of scietitific tlieory (Fig. 12).

Sambiasi's map contains al least four diagrams for illustrating the



536 THE HUMAN BODY ASA UNIVERSE

Fig. 11 . Maartcn dc Vos. Salvator Mtindi, from a series o f "Ch rist Blessing." tarl y

seventeenth century, engraving, Bihiiotheque RoyaJe de Belgique, Belgium,

SI38279, © B ibliotheque Royale d e Belgiqtie, Brussels, Belgium

text deals directly with the sphericity of the Earth.Tlie beginning sen-tence goes to tbe core of the relevant geography and cosmology:" ^^^^Wm m • •Z^^^Z:^^m • m^:^m ' mfl^^ (in the beginningwhen the Creator created things, be necessarily determined the essen-tial appearance of tbese things.The essential appearance of the Earthis a sphere.")^^ This statement also indicates the principal teaching atthe center of Jesuit geography and its metaphysical fotmdation: theCreator, i.e., God. D Elia pointed out that the European sources for



HV HUl-HUNG CHEN 557

12, lieiyu ditu tWlfiH {Norlherti Polar Hemisphere Map) & Nanyu ditu{Southern Polar Hemisphere Mapy, from Giiilio Aleni. Wanguo

(juatitu SIB:^H iUniversal Map of Countries), c. 1620, woodcut on paper.Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City, Barberini O rien te 151 (l b ) , ©

Biblioteca Ap ostolica V aticana. Vatican City

Earth's sphericity iSphaeram loannis de Sacrobosco Comm en-tarius).''^ Ricci's world map and other Jesuit geographical and carto-graphical works alike resorted to this tradition, and the sphericity ofthe Earth was the theoretical premise hy which to calculate the solarand lunar eclipses, locate the celestial positions of the star, and realizethe relationships between the earth and other celestial entities.These

astronomical (observations were important for mapping the earth ; thusthe calculation of the relative distances among various places andcelestial objects was a three-dimensional geometrical isstie ra ther thanmerely a two-dimensional problem as it had been conceived in localc:binese traditions.^^ As Aleni's Wanguo tu xiaoyin 'MM ^'h^\ {LittlePrefiue of tbe Wanguo tu^ explains lucidly," tiS^^R—HIB • SI)!49J8 'feMttl^'^ifeR5t^ (The Earth and Heaven are both the same, a splicre,and their degrees correspond with each other. So mapping the Earthhas to resort to the Heavens)."^" Regarding the matter of the Earth's

sphericity. Jesuit cartography was a cultural product imported as amodern concep t for Chinese people. Therefore, Jesuit w orld maps



53 8 THE HUMAN BODY ASA UNIVERSE

Fig. 13. Diagram, woodcut, from Manuel Diaz, Jr., Tian wen liie SMB {O nAstronomy), I6 l5 , National Central Library,Taiwati, 305.2 06257, © NationalCentral Ubrarj', Taipei, Taiwan

were not only "a visual image of geographical configuration." Various

astronomical diagrams—such as those of tbe tiine layers of tbe

Heavens at the upper right corner of Ricci s Kunyu wanguo quantu

(Fig. 14), of th e as trolab e at th e lo w er right co rn er of Ricci's (Fig. 15).

as well as of the solar and lunar eclipses on Ricci's and Sambiasi's

wo rld m aps, and Aleni s Beiyu ditu and Nanyu ditu—all served as

illustrations of the physical studie s of the Hea vens, w hic h played a cm -

cial role in mapping the earth. In the meanwhile, they paved the way

toward the comprehension of the Creator 's significance.

The third difference between the two cartographical traditions

revealed in the Chinese perception of Fiiropeati cii t tograpby concerns



BY HUM OING CHEN

Fig. 14. Jiu cbong tien tu ASSffi ^Diagram of the Nine Layers of theHeai'ens). from Matteo Ricci. Kttnyti tvangtio c/nanttt fflP»SB:^ffi (UnirersalMap of Ihe World ami Countries), ]6<.)2, woodcut on paper, llibliotccaApostolica Vaticana, Vatican City, Barberini Oricnte ISO (1). © BibliotecaApostolica Vaticana. Vatican City

• m m

Use the longitude line to determine the distanee between two places,which is called "time." It is a day as the sun turns one circle. So each unit oftime runs thirty degrees. If the distance between two places is thirtydegrees, their time has the difference of one unit.^'

"Thi.s prelate i^ the ttxl under the lille of ilie map at ihc right sidt- ol' tht- work. For




Fig. 15. Tien diyi ^IBflS (Diagram of tbe Astrolabe), from Matteo Ricci, Kunyu

wanguo quantu WfWffi^S (l/nii-ersal Ma p of the W orld and Cou ntries),

1602, w oo dc ut on pap er, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. Vatican City, Batticrini

O rie nte 150 (1), © Biblioteca Ap ostolica Vaticana, Vatican City

One such practical example is found in Aleni's Kou duo ri cha(Daily Account of the Vocal Assertion). By means of a map of Romeshown to Fujian's followers in 1630, Aleni explained the difference intime between Cbina and Rome based on tbe various degrees related tothe position of the sun striking the earth, thereby illustrating the spher-ical configuration of the earth. He further cotiflrmed a false presump-tion held by Chinese astrologers, as is clear from the quote below:



BY HlimU NG CHEN 541

cnipirc. If so, by what means can Chinese astmlogcrs determine auspicious

and ill omens? Aleni answered, "This is why they [Chinese astrologers] are

iintriUhful, yet also why commoners are still coniiiscd by

This is a concrete example of the u.se of scientific visual material, a

European map, to refute Chinese astrology, which was considered a

discipline of science as well as of religion in C hinese traditions. Aleni'sattack shows the ridiculousness of this tniditional discourse as it per-

tained in the areas both of science and religion. This idea of a linkbetween time and astrology eould also have legitimized the Jesuits"

introduction of European clocks.'*-''

The Human Body as a Universe:linderstanding Heaven byVisualization and Sensibility

In tiie above discussion of the differences between Chinese and

European cartography, as the Chinese perceived the European worldmaps that Jesuit missionaries brought to c;hina, we can see how the

religious message was embedded in the Jesuit explanations of the

maps. In what follows, 1 propose to look at the m atter further from theJesuit side, arguing that for the Jesuits, the religious impliealions in

their cartography could be concerned with a broader European con-

text, by whieh their intentions for employing such visual objects maybe elucidated. I suggest that the visualization, as well as sensibilit)', canbe two primary conceptions of the religious meaning of the mission-ary versions of world m aps.

In 1589. Richard Hakluyt m ade the following sharp-witted remark:

"From the Mappe he brought m e to th e Bible."^* Tliis truth W;LS also validtor C hinese Jesuit cartograph)' as it was first pn;sented to the Cliinese.

•*^Giutlo Aleni. Koti duo rt cba P 0 B W (Pcilty .Account nf the Vocat Assertion), in

N icoias S tandacrl iinil Adri;in Diidi nk. cds.. mft&iB.«)i*ffllfl3i*7?,±«3?it: Chinese

Christian Texts from the Roman Archiivs of the Sixiety of Jesus, 12 vols, (laipei. 2(H)2),

t- toois ihc Jesuits iimuglit lo Ciiiiia tor time aiui spatial inca.sua'mcnt,

see C aii itri nc .lunii, "W fMcrn Dt-viccs tor .Mcusiiring Tim e and Spiicc: Ckicks and

liiitlidian Cieometr>' in I^tc Ming :tnd Cti Ing China," in lime and Space in ChineseC H /;Mre.ed,Chun-C hieh H tiang ;tnd E rik Ziirch cr (U -idcn. tt>9'>). pp . t69-200,



5 4 2 THEHUMANBODYASAUWVERSE

In the two European sources that D'EHa pointed out for Riccis

world map, Alessandro Piccolomini's Sfera del Mondo andChristophus Clavio's Sphaeram Ioannis de Sacrobosco Com men-

tarius, the geographical and cosmologica! contents indicate thatEuropean geography since the Renaissance period had to be under-stood by way of its cosmological associations, wliich were based onChristian theology.^^ Aleni's Wanguo tu xiaoyin, part of which wasquoted at the heginning of tliis article, indicates that the missions, bothimplicitly as well as explicitly, conveyed the Christian message thatwas implied in a map's configuration. The key points in Aleni's state-ment are the hitman body as a tmiverse and the conipanitive smallnessof the human body in relationship to the greatness of Heaven. Ricci'stext of 1602 on the Kunyu wanguo quantu expresses the magnitudeof Heaven in a similar tone:

! ha\'e heard thai the universe is a great book, and only the intelligentscholar can read it and then achieve the ultimate doctrine. By compre-hending the Heaven and Earth, one would be able to testify to the ultimatekindness, greatness, and oneness of the supreme power of the lord whorules over the Heaven and Earth. Those who do not study or pursue thisway neglt-ct Heaven. Not to ascribe this study to the sovereign of Heaven isnot to study in the serious sense. Abandoning absolutely any maliciousideas in order to achieve the ultimate kindness is meritorios. To put asidethe little [study or faithl and turn to pursue the great one, minimizing themultitude [regarding beliefs) in order to pledge allegiance lo the utmostone, is not far from the study, is it?

Both Ricci's and Aleni's statements ascribe the metaphysical realm ofhuman intelligence and tbe body to the Creator, emphasizing thegreatness and uniqueness of God. Ricci in particular denounced themultitude of beliefs and of deities in Chinese traditions, in contrast to

God's existence as the only supreme pow er of the tmiverse. Alenipoints out the relationship between the human body and the universe



B Y r r i T I- H l lN G C H E N . 513

as to pay esteem to tlie Creator. The last sentence in Aleni's statement

is clever, implying that the map in front of our eyes serves as visualproof, given that the htiman eye Xan see" ii, tbrotigh the facultybestowed by the Oeator.Therefore, it shows that the visual evideticeprovided by a map was a visualization of an understanding of (iod,and that it was used to point to this ultimate truth b)' means of theimage itself and the ability of the viewer which depends on the ulti-mate one, both of which are inevitably interlinked.The impt)rtance ofestablishing the proof of God or the truth in the universe lies in thefact that the missionary had to preach the truth of (Christianity to non-

Christians, becatise the Chinese were not able to recognize JesusChrist in their history and culture and questioned the veracity of himand his religion.

Therefore, it is not strange that Aleni's Zhifang waiji was catego-rized under the section of// 'IB (literally,// means theory or principle;in tlie religious context of Christianity, it denotes "Christian doctritie")instead of qi S e (tliosc works on the physical studies of Heaven), in

the Tian.xtie cbtiban :S*H!ili, the first book compilation of theHeavenly studies in China. It was compiled and published by Li Zhizaoaround 1629, who w as responsible for Ricci's Kunyu wanguoquantu. Like cartography for the Jesuits, the Zhifang waiJi is notsimply an introduction to geographical knowledge.

However, Jesuit cartography and geography need physical studiesto achieve their ends. Jesuit methods of teaching the (Chinese lo com-prehend the Heaven and Earth proceeded from the physical to the

spiritual realms, and the former, the physical studies, were an essen-tial part of the process toward the understanding of the metaphysi-cal field of the universe.The most important basis for physical stud-ies was mathem atics. Hence the section of qi of the Tianxtie chuhanincludes works and treatises on numerical theories and geometry.The mathematical disciplines and studies, as seen in the case ofVenetian mapping in the sixteenth century, were tinderstood as"being in the first degree of certainty." Based on the Fylhagorean-

Platonic view of the mathematical and geometrical structures of theuniverse, the Jesuits believed that, "mathematical reason allows us to



5 4 4 THE HUMAN BOtJY AS A t lNIVERSE

ineffable trut b of God.'" '" This "certainty" was a conc ep t crucial to

direct one to the "proof of the truth." T he R enaissance tradition ofcosmology and cartography and the idea of understanding naturethrough mathematical science are the essential framework throughwhich the Jesuits legitimized the sciences iti the China mission.M athematics played an im portant part in cartography; through it th eJesuits ititerpreted the role of the sciences in Jesuit visual cul ture. Itwas also the fundamental physical study guiding one toward the spir-itual realm, and it played a key role in regularizing knowledge to the

level of certainty and truth.

In addition, it is particularly interesting to note that Aristotelian sen-sibility was employed in cooperation with the understanding of math-ematics and mathematical practices for gaitiing knowledge of Heavenin the Jesuit China mi.ssion. WilUem H ackmann articulated tlie rela-tionship between Sense and Reason in seventeentb-century Europeanscholarship as follows: "Reason made it possible to com prehend thenew phenomena produced by science, while observations on their

own could never lead to understanding." He pointed out fiirtber thatthe title page of the Jesuit work Ars niagna lucis et umbrae (1646), atreatise on optics composed by Kircber, uses the telescope as anemblem for Sense as the only source of knowledge. Hackmann com-mented: "The Jesuits were keen to introduce science into the Vaticanand they were among the most ardent diffusers of the new knowledgebased on these novel instruments, but as their frotitispieces indicate,they were very much concerned with the relationship betweenReason and Sense." * T hese remarks are appropriately applied to Jesuitsciences in their Chinese missionary' work, because as in the case ofcartography, the Jesuits introduced the Chinese to the comprehensionof western knowledge and of Heaven by means of the cooperation ofmathematics (Reason) and sensibility (Sense).

In the Jesuit framework, the visualization is carried out by the abil-ity of tbe human sense, the theory based upon the concept of per-

" 'Both quotations conctrning Venetian mapping case s tudies arc from Denis



B Y H t Jl - H L I N G C H E N 545

cep tion or sensibility of Aristotle. This theory can be grasped by the

Aleni's s tatement: the htmian body as a universe. First, as Aleni's pref-ace indicates, tbe human body, likened to a universe, is based uponthat human faculty bestowed by the master of the universe, i.e., God.Also because of this tmderstanding of the body as a microcosm of theuniverse, we can "comprehend the whole Heaven and Earth." For theJesuits, the whole meaning of the human body includes both its cor-porality and the sotil.A man is different from olh er beings due toCiod's bestowal of anima, the rational sou l. As the Jesuit fotinderIgnatius de Loyola explains, c/w/mc/. a denomination of "the rational

soul,'suggests the co-operation of"body and soul."and is"a com poundof body and soul" atid "the whole self." even though the word "soul"alone is generally used as a translation of anima:*^ In this sense,anima means the essence of a human being.Tbis concept of an ableand rational soul is cotiipletely unfamiliar to the traditional (Chineseconcep ts of/7«H % atidpo W.^' These two Chinese terms.commonlyused as equivalents for the word "soul" in modern English usage, donot indicate either a positive and realistic being, nor was the faculty

of reason and intelligence associated with these terms Whilehuri

andpo have a metaphysical sense, they are meaningless when detachedfrom the physical body; the body and .soul in c;hinese thotight are notopposed in any dualistic way.**" In add ition, the Aristotelian distinctionof three souls for temporal beings, and the significance of the rationalsoul of man, as the third and highest among the three, are explicitlyexplained in various works of Jesuit literature for the Chinese. InRicci's Tianzhu shiyi ^ ± S * ( ^ T h e True Mean ing of the Lord ofHeaven, 1603), among the earliest of these works, this anima of

human beings was translated as ling hurt S98,and Ricci said that linghurt is shen W (literally "spirit").*^' In th e lianzhu shengjiao qinieng^'iM^^^ (^Catechism for Catholicism, early seventeenth century)and Song nian zhu gui cheng ift^^SftS (Method for Reciting theRosary, firsi edition circa 1619), bound together in a single volume.

E . Ganss, The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius—A Translation and

Commentary' (St. Louis, 1992), p . 150.

"Jacques (iernet, Cbina and tbe C hristian Impact: A Conflict of Cultures(Ca mb ridg e, I')8' i). pp . 116-150;Erik Ziircher. "Confucian and Christian Religiosity in U t c



546 THE HUMAN BODY ASA tINlVERSE

and in Sambiasi's Ling yan li shao ft'38'9 {Treatise on Anima;

1624), the term is transliterated as yanima S/tii.*^' It was read asling shen • " in the Pangzi yi quan fft^iAli (The PosthumousWork ofPantnja) of Diego de P;mtoja (ca. \(3\i)),shen in \hc fiaoyao

jie liie J^SWflS (Brief Explanations of the Catholic Essentials, 1615)of A lfonso V agnoni (1568-1640), and ling xing ftit (spidttial nature)and ling ming S^S (spiritual intelligence) later in A leni's works.''^Ling S and shen ^ are interchangeable. In order to elucidate the

genuine sense of anima, in their Chinese works, the Jesuits explained

that a rational soul has the faculty of reason and intelligence due toshen or ling xing, for instance. In other words, the Jestiits used ter-

minology such as shen or ling xing, in order to indicate the primaryfeature of the rational soul.To borrow a term from Erik Ziircher, as in

th e late M ing period wh en N eo-Confucianism was popular, the idea of"soul" was marginal but human nature (xing 'tt) and mind (xin ^)

were consid ered in a positive light.'''* The Jesuit appro priat ion of shenor ling xing were much more associated with tbe xing andxin of

Neo-Confucianism. The Jestiits could have thought that the (Chinese

terms shen and ling were appropriate to point out the conception ofthe body and soul in tbeir highlighting of the rational soul.

T he same co ncep t of "the hutiian body as a universe" was also seenin c;hinese metapbysics. However, it represented a diflcTcnt cosmol-ogy. In the writings of the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi £•?• (365-

290 B.C.), we see that man is similar to the universe in nature and

structure. T heir relationship, which was furthered in the Han period

''"Joao da Rocha, Tianzhu shengjiao qinieng '^±fi*frSS (.Catechism for

Catholicism) and Song nian zhu gui cheng »±*«f i (Mt'lbod for Reciting the

Kosary) (AR SI, JapSin 1,43).fol. lr A m odern facsimile of this work hasbeen pubbs hed.

sec Standaert and D u d i n k . Chinese Christian Texts. I, pp. 503-515, 515-574; the above

folio lr is on page 515; Francesco Sam biasi. Ling )<an li sbao • f f t f c ^ (Treatise on

Anima). m Tianxue chuban.U.pp. 1127-1268.

•^'Diego de Pantoja, Pangzi yi quan 0 ? - J * a (The Posthumous Wbrk of Pantoja), in

Standaert and Dudink.Cftmcve Christian li'xts. n,p. l09;AlfonsoV;ignoni..//«f)j'«()7«* liie

t eB l iB S (Brief Explanations of tbe Catholic Essentials), in Standaert and Diidink,

Chinese Christian Texts. I, pp. 301-306: Gitilio Aleni, Xingxiie cusbu t tStWii ((in

Human Nature. A ienis preface dated in 1623). in Standaert and l>udink. Cbinese

Cbristian 7i '.v/ s,V l,p p, 104-11)8; Giulio A Jeni,.SV /«AV.irt« lunxueji 3:illSi4M E (Account of



BY m n HIING CHEN 5 4 7

(20 6 B.C..-220 A.D.). is revealed in th e co rrelative tho ug ht that w as

entrenched in Chinese astrological and co.sni()logical discotirses,whose inf luence determined the emperor 's deeds no less than folk

religions and morality.'^'^ In Zhtiangzi's elaboration, each being in the

un iverse h as equal stattis, becau.se the> arc all crea ted or resu lted from

qi % (air) . In oth er w ord s, the Aristotelian distinction of thre e souls for

tem po ral b eing s, w ith the rational soul as ihe th ird and high est, is in

opposition to this cosmology. 1 he meaning of human existence in

Chinese cosmology is not to be established through the omnipotence

of the real m aster of th e univ erse— at least not from a Jesuit p ers pe c-

tive— but in tb e indi.scriminate universe."'' ' B asically, this co nc ep tio n of

the universe formed the foundation of Chinese thought throughout

sub seq uen t c entu ries, as revealed in the N eo-C onfiician analysis of the

linked relationship b etw een hum an being s and na ture, and of thai

be tw een natt ire and the u niverse."The hu m an body as a uti iverse" wa s

not brotight abotit th rou gh the u ltimate and only C reator, but it wa s

understood throtigh the concept of lianren j (7t*)7"ÂS—"( iêavens

and hum ans direc ted towa rds the same one, or being ho mo geneo us") ,

or as the same derivation of heavens and humans from qi in the qi-immersed and non-tiiscriniinatcd world. ' '"

Second , du e to this shen or ling xing, in the Jesuit religious co nte xt,

the human body has five senses.The sense of the eye occupies the first

rank in the theory of the five .senses, and the htiman faculty- or intellect

depends above all on tlie proper functioning of vision. Ignatius '

As for the correlative thought in China, refer to Du Zhengsheng "ttJEHf , "Xingti.

hun po— zhon gguo chu anto ng dui ren renshi de xingchenjj" <g« • tt1ll.*m>t-

+ BDlMt*1' A J ataW3S)E (Hody. Spirit and Soul— The Torm ation of th e Kimw ledge of

Humans in Chinese Traditions). Xin shixue * r * » (yVcir History) 2 (3): 56-(>l

(Septem ber 1991); John H, H enderson , Tbe Deivlopnient and Decline of Cbifiese

Cosmology (New York, 1984).

•"'Ahoul /h u a n g z is writing s and philos oph y,see Y oung-hae Song ^flSIS ."Dongfang

de xiangguan xing siwei moshi h;m dui youjiti sheiigming dc lijic—>i Zhuaiig/i han

zhongyi de ôtijiii shen gniing yuanli wei zhon gxin" JI!SW"*aHt4Si((t»'*"TO*ffitM I±ft

*g«« K— W l*^fl]4'»eDK tM I±tfB B art+.lL- (The Eastern ITiinking Mcthutl .it Kclativity

and the <Comprehension oJ the Organic Heing—the Principles ol the Organic Iknng in

Zhuangzi and (~hinese M edicine), (p ap er p resum ed M the Internationa] Meeting of theForm ation of the C osm ic O rd er in Early M odern t;ist A.sia, C en ter lo r th e Study of liast



548 T H E H t JM A N B O D Y A S A U N I V E R SE

Spiritual Exercises ta kes t ip "th e Five Sen ses of th e B ody" as on e of its

subjec ts in the First M eth od of Prayer, th e "light exercise," tha t can begiven to "sitnple and illi terate persons wbo are unqualified for the full

Exercises."'*'* A long w ith ot he r sub jects in t he First M et ho d— th e T en

Co m m andm ent s, th e Capital Sins, and t he T liree Pow ers of th e S oul—

the Five Senses of the Body were translated and explained by the

Je suits in t he earliest Chinese c atec het ical treatises, st ich as V agnoni's

Jiaoyao jie We and Shengf ing yue lu S S ^ S f t (Abridgement from the

Bible, ca. after 1615).T he Chinese term s w ere em ployed as below:

The human body has five senses. First are the eyes for the vision or sight;second, th e ears for hearing; third, the mouth for tasting; fourth, the nose forsmelling; fifth, four limbs for feeling.''''

A t least t int il the middle of th e sev ent een th centu ry, A ristotle's under-

sta ndin g of the htim an s oul's sensibility, th at is, tb e .soul's cap acit y t o

perceive things by tbe senses leading to a comprehension of the tmi-

verse, wa s cen tral t o Cat holic epist em ology and natural philosophy/*"

T he prom inent his torian of Chinese sciences, J oseph N eedham, noted

that , the w orld-picture wliich the Jesuits brought was that of th e closed

Ptolemaic-A ristotelian geo ce nt ric universe of solid co nc en tric crys-

talline sphere."*'' In intro du cin g this Ptolemaic-A ristotelian w orld pic-

ture to t he C liina tnission, th e Je suits w ere mo re co nce rne d with i ts reli-

gious implication as it suited their missionary uses. M oreover, th e J esuits

could use it in bo th symbo lic and realistic sense s. T lieir cart ogra phy

based on the Ptolemaic world retained as much symbolic as scientificmean ing for seventeen th-cen tury E urope, considering the realist ic pic-

ss, The Spiritual Exercises, pp. 96-98, 186.'''The quotation comes from the Jiaoyao jie liie. T he Jiaoyao Jie liie and the

Sheng/ing yue iu were reprinted in full in the first volume of S tandaert's and D udink'sChinese Cbristian T e.xts. The texts discussing the five senses of the lx)dy are separately.seen in the tbllowing pages, 110. 301-303 (the quotation on p. 301). Albert Chan attrib-uted the Shengjiiig yue lu to R icci, composed after l(>05. see A lbert c:han, Chinese

Books and Document.^ in the Jesuit Archives in Rom e— A Descriptive Catalogue(Armonk, New York, 2tK)2), p. 106.



BY H D I-H U N G C H E N 549

tiirc of the world already broug ht hack hy several explorers from actual

navigations and from gct)gra]>hical expansions. However, for theChinese as well as for the missionaries, the symbolic image of the

Ptolemaic wo rld did. to a certain exten t, present a more realistic picture

than the local mapping conven tions in China, as explained ahovc.

Tlie sense of sight is usually de scribe d as a bodily function in those

earliest Chinese catechistic treatises, but the ability of the eyes , show n

in the sense of si>;ht and vision, is not conceived by the Jesuits only

within the realm of the physical hody.Vagnoni explained the interde-

p e n d e n c e of the htiman body and sbett as follows:

Shen is :i nt)n-m:itcri;il thing. It cannot he indt'pcndcnth- realized without

the image of the material, but has to rely on various images of external

things Ifroni the five senses] to receive and transmit them inward. For the

external five senses, the transmitted images ean he neither enlightenedwithout the Internal faculty [i.c...';/)t'n|,nor he animated clearly and aptly to

react to the principle of all of things.''

Therefore, the five senses ha ve to be completed t l irough the capacity of

shen. and shen has to be conceived by means of the five senses, as it

receives the images of various external objects for a more complete per-

ception.This Chinese description conforms to the w hole m eaning of the

hum an body, that i s . Ignatius" co-o pera tion of the body and the soul.

Ling Xing or shen has one com pon ent regarding vision: mn emo nics,

which links ling .ring or shen to the capacit)^ of sensory perc eptio n, per-

tained to the issue of visualization and imagination in its European con-

text.The faculty of Siben, following Vagnoni's text, has th ree eategories:_//

han SB'S (memor j ) , ming tru ^tS (enlightenment and comprehen-

sion), and Iiiyn S2S? (wilD/'^liiese three faculties of shett, repeated in

various Jesuit w orks in Ch inese, derive from the t l iree mental pow ers of

Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises—memory, intellect, and will:



550 THE HtJMAN BODY AS A UNIVERSE

Spirittial Exercises 50:The First Point |for the First Exercise] will be to use

my memory, by going over the first sin, that of the angels; next to use myunderstanding, by reasoning about it; and tben my will. My aim in remem-

bering ;ind reasoning about all tbese matters is to bring myself to greater

shame and confusion 1 will call to memory the sin of the angels— Next

I will use my intellect to ruminate about this in greater detail, and then

move myself to deeper emotions by means of my will.'''

These three faculties have to work together for the functioning of

shen. Sambiasi s Ling yan li shao and A leni's Xingxue cushu 'tt^iSSai

(O « Human Nature,Mtznx's preface dated in 1623) offer two elabora-tions of these three faculties in greater detail, compared with oth erJesuit C:hinese works. '

"M emory" occupies the first rank among the three faculties of shen,because its quality would affect the operat ions of th e ot he r tw o capac-ities, intellect and will. Aleni's explanation iti 1634 states clearly and

concisely the co-relationships between these three ftinctions:

Tlie first is to clean up memory. Memory is not clear; tbat is, miscellaneous

thoughts come into brain. In tliis ease, it will cause confusion and disturbance

in meditation. So it [the memory] must resort to sacrt-d hooks,adcjpting those

gotxl and exquisite ones and taking them into the niemor)', st) they ean he

used at all times in order to inspire intelligence. Second, the fulfillment of

intellect. The intellect has heen enlightened, then can draw inferences in

order to understand thoroughly an>' hidden meanings. Having ptjntlered the

action and significance |or the things or issues in question], we take it to be

a standard. At tbis point the affection can be motivated. Third, the initiation

of tbe affection. Once tbe comprehension of the principles is achieved, tben

the affection ean be amused. It can generate either the will of repentance or

the thought of improvement. Be determined ;uid supplicate Ciod s grant of

spirittial power, in order for firm action. This is a summary of meditation.**



B Y H tH -H t IN G C H E N 551

European tradition of mncmotechnics dating from the classical period

onward, imagination and vistialization were the two primary metlKxIsfor catising and arranging a trained memory. Thinking about the

Aristotelian thcor)' of knowledge, that he expotinded in his D e anima.formed an extremely prominent position in Je.suii thinking on the

issues; as Frances Yates states, "The p ercep tions brouglit in by the fivesenses are first treated or worked tipon by the facult\' of imagina-tion."'"" Imagination relies on the brahi to generate various mentalimages; this point is cotifirmed by th e above qu otat ion of Aleni's expla-nation. H owever, the Jestiits distingtiished the mem ory of the hmin andthat of the heart, emphasizing the heart as the ultimate sotircc of a

rational soul because the management of memory, such as building a

visionary palace, lies therein."" Tlie practical example of this buildingmethod in the management of memory in China is Riccis Xiguo jifaE^l&ik {Western Mnemonics; 1596), a prom inent booklet of westernmnemonics. Ricci introduces the western theor\- of mnemofiics, anddi.scu,sses the method of constructing an imaginative house withC hinese ideographs.*^ By speaking of Chinese ideographs as signs, he

simultatieously made use of the imaginative and memory-orientedcharacteristics of the C^hinese latiguagc in order to articulate the visualfunction of west ern m nemo nics for th e comp rehension of the C hinesepeop le. H e thus discussed the idea of .xiang * (image) with many fig-

urative samples of Chinese characters."" In other words, Ricci appro-priates the hieroglyphic character of the Chinese language to expresshis conc ept of xiang and xiang's significant uses, and he tries to estab-lish a common perceptive method between the image-tjriented char-acteristics of the Chinese language and the visualization of western

mnem onics. This link be tw een imagery and linguistics formulated by

'•"Frances A.Yatcs. The Art of Memory (C hicago, 1966), p. 32.

'•"Ak-iii, Xiug.xue cushu. |ip 283-302 In Alcni's term, memory hoiistxl in the brain is

caUed slK'Ji l^£.Thc tt-rmyV Iwn E-S is used for mt'morj ' of the hciui, Iliis thfory con-

forms to the relevant historical discourse in liftcenth-tcniiiry Eiin>pc thai is stated hy Paul

SuciiRt'r as follows: "In the fiftct-nth ccn tur j', co^tnitivf function wa.s thoiiglit m Ix- divided

ix-twet-n the bniin, which according to (ialcn was ihc locus of si-nsc iind memory, and the

hea n. which according lo the Bible. Aristotle, and nu niem iis Latin patrihiic authorit ies was

tlic intanjjible seat ol" th e nitiona l soul." sec Riiil Sacnger."H (>oks of Hours and the Keadiii^

Habits of the Iiiter Middk Afies. in Ihe Cultutv of Pri>it~hnver and the Uses of Print in



55 2 T H E H U M A N B O D Y A S A U N I V E R SE

the Jesuits entails an impo rtant observation of difference be tw ee n the

tw o cultu res. A s w ord s and im ages could be seen as rivals in t heEuropean aesthetic traditions, botb scripts and images for the Chinese

could hav e hee n "unditferentiated art forms," bo th functioning as

"graphic signs that expressed meaning.""'

T o restate sitnply the m atter elaborated abo ve: seeing is crucial for

tindcrstatiditig. l li e sense of the eye occ upies the first rank am ong the

five sense s, and the h um an faculty o r the rational soul de pe nd s ab ove all

on the proper functiotiing of vision. With regard to the capacity of the

human rational sotil.tnnemotiics assigns sigtiificance to the sensed image,and t hu s image s play a legitimate role in the fulfillment of the sensibility.

The reason for the Jestiits' uses of images and visual ohjccts in tlic China

mission lies iti this A ristoteliati philos oph ical and Jesu it the ologic al back-

groimd. Jesuit cartography wa s an em bod im ent of the R enaissance tradi-

tion of cartography as the graphical represetitation of the universe, wliich

included the idea of tinderstanding nature tlirougli mathematical science

as well as of understanding Heaven by uses of the senses, especially visu-

alization. In th is R enaissan ce trad ition, geo graph y w as asscxriated witlicosmology that was based upon Cbristian theolog); and Aristotle s use of

the senses for the comprehension of the tmiverse formed the core of

Catholic epistem ology and natitral pliilosophy. Cartography, as a m od e of

the vistialization of knowledge, was a pntctical example to use to proceed

from the human abilit}' of sight to the truth of Christianity.

T he religious imp lications of Jesuit c artog rap hy e xplain how^ the

Jesuits could have employed cartography strategically in their attempts

to evangelize in China.The religious underpinning supported the useof this scientific obje ct in th e Jesuit C hina m ission. W hile the Je suits

made efforts to translate a European-based map into a Chinese printed

version, they also introduced new geographical k now ledge of China

back to E urope, to use Steven H arris ' term , incorpo rating th e kno wl-

edge of China into the geography of Jesuit kno wle dge . Cartography

thus played quite a significant role in the dytiamics of this intercultural

relation. For hoth Europe and China, it indicates a historical process in

the E arly M odern period, in w hich e ach side tried to acc om m od ate

worid geography and the knowledge of other countr ies and peoples

Cartografia China

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