Chinese Catechism of Fr. Francesco Brancato as a source of catechesis of Archimandrite Iakinf (Bichurin).

History of the catechism

Archimandrite Iakinf (Bichurin) led the 9th Russian Spiritual Mission in Beijing (1807-1821). The mission arrived in Beijing January 10, 1808 Nicholas Adoratsky historiographer mission notes that the first 100 years of its existence, the mission was in "deplorable condition and abandoned" [ 3 , p. 166]. Marrying a Chinese woman, descendants of Russian prisoners of war were subjected to gradual assimilation. By the time of arrival in Beijing 9th Mission congregation no longer understood in Russian. In addition, they participated in the Chinese religious rites with their families, more and more away from Orthodoxy. The need for at least a summary of Orthodox faith in Chinese was obvious.

In carrying out their missionary duties on. Hyacinth in 1810, publishes a short catechism in Chinese in the number of 400 copies 3 , c. 263]. However Adoratsky Recalling Chistovich [ 16 May, p. 185] writes that the catechism was drawn up in Russian and then translated into Chinese. This is not true, because text was immediately drawn to the Chinese. More accurate observation we find in AN Khokhlova. Citing a source, he said that made ​​Bichurin "Shorter Catechism of the Catholic candidate" and printed it in 400 copies [ 15 , p. 161]. A similar reference is and AV Lomanova [ 10 , c. 313].

In his report to the Holy Synod Archimandrite writes that the new book "the same faith with extremely gratefully accepted, for they contain a statement of the very faith that they professed to Sem, completely unaware of what was onaya ..." [ 2 , c. 10].

Catholic Catechism, which is mentioned above, the author of the Italian Jesuit missionary Francesco Brancato (1607-1671). In domestic publications this fact is not reflected, but in Western publications found repeatedly [ 17-20 ]. Galdner in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907) indicates that the text was published in Beijing in 1739 under the name "Tianshen ke hui" and the name translates as "Angelic conversation" [ 21 ]. Pfister contends that the first edition was held in Shanghai in 1661 and gives a more accurate translation: "Lessons in the collection of angels" [ 19 , 229]. He explains that Brancato founded in Shanghai a number of catechetical meetings, one of which was a meeting of the Holy Angels - for children [ 19 , c. 227]. Chang believes that the publication of the Common Worship implemented community in Songjiang based Brancato in 1641 [ 17 , c. 156].

Under the same name - "Tianshen hui ke" - came out and catechism Bichurina. In the context of the urgent need for a religious text Bichurin decides to use an existing Chinese-language statement. He chose to work Brancato, as calculated on the children, it was written by an extremely simple language.

Information about the external characteristics of block prints and structural features of the text published by the author in [ 8 ], so we will not dwell on them in detail. The subject of our discussion will be a comparison of the texts of the Catholic creed and Orthodox missionaries. When comparing to focus on terminology and religious aspects.

A comparison of texts and Bichurina Brancato

Brief information about the structure of the text

Presentation at Brancato, and after him and Bichurina, built on the principle wen da - "question and answer", characteristic of the catechisms of the time.

Bichurina religious text consists of five chapters:

• Chapter 1. Six tenets of the doctrine of the Holy Church.
• Chapter 2. On the essence of Orthodox teaching of the Holy Church, in question and answer format.
• Chapter 3. Concerning the Ten Commandments of the Lord, in question and answer format.
• Chapter 4. Explanation of the Lord's Prayer.
• Chapter 5. Concerning Precepts of the Church.

Now let TOC catechism Brancato edition 1739, highlighting the head that served as the basis for the Orthodox catechism:

About six tenets, with the interpretations.

On the substance of God.

On reasonable human soul and the body.

Explanation symbol of the cross.

Prayer of repentance.

Prayer with the memory of the Holy Cross.

Prayer to the Lord God.

Prayer to the Holy Mother.

Creed (played only the text of the Creed).

Ten Commandments of God.

Decisions of the Church.

Seven sacraments.

Eight Beatitudes.

Chapters 1, 3, 4 and 5 are taken from the work of Brancato. The second chapter, as indicated by Klaproth, taken from the Shorter Catechism of the Catholic missionaries in Beijing [ 18 , c. 73], the text of which we do not yet have. But at the end of the second chapter provides a symbol of faith in the text Brancato. Let us discuss this in more detail.

The text of the Creed

Note first that Brancato is not based on the Nicene Creed-Tsar grad, and so-called Apostolic, which is now widely used in missionary work:

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried,

descended into hell, the third day rose from the dead,

ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty

and there shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

resurrection of the body,

eternal life. Amen.

The first thing to say about the naming of divine persons. Here pronounced difference approaches the eastern and western missionaries. Jesuits transcribed the most important concepts of Christian doctrine to emphasize their irreducibility to categories of Chinese religion. In turn, Bichurin believed that it will inevitably lead to distortions of the teachings, as we read in the imperial decree of the Holy Synod to Bishop Benjamin Bishop of Irkutsk, on May 8, 1809: "Catholic preachers, translating the scriptures into Chinese for some reason kept the name of the three Persons of the Godhead in Latin, such as God the Father transferred Tianzhu Bàdélē Deus pater (my italics - IK.) and so on. On the first case, that the introduction of such words does not svyaschennopisaniya darker, and avoid the need for excessive interpretations, he decided (Bichurin - IK) translate the name of the three Persons of the Godhead terms tamoshnego natural language "[ 1 , pp.. 4-6]. Now, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are called in Brancato respectively Bàdélē (Pater), Fèilüè (Filius), Sibiliduo Sanduo (Spiritus Sanctus), and at Bichurina Sheng Fu (Holy Father), Sheng Zi (Holy Son), Sheng Shen (Holy Spirit).

Now let us compare the texts of two missionaries and trace what other changes were made Bichurin in processing raw material.

1) Several rearranging phrase Brancato, Bichurin introduces the definition of God and Wei - Single. However, this is not the original term Bichurina because Brancato uses it in the second term, speaking of the Son. Brancato term Creator [Heaven and Earth] - Hua-cheng [Tian di] - Bichurin mutates in Zao-cheng [Tian di]. Note parenthetically that the sign was used hua Russian missionaries for such an important Eucharistic thing as prelozhenie.

2) Brancato says of the Son, and Wei-- One, while Bichurin uses simple and it makes sense for the sake of breeding concepts translated as One. As for the name of Jesus Christ, here Bichurin still does not attempt a detailed transcription that will take into Later Russian missionry (see, for example. [ 12 , p. 131]). The name Jesus, he sends the same characters that Brancato - Yisu, and in the naming of Christ - Jilisidu changes only the first character: Helisidu, bringing to the Russian sounding transkribtsiyu

3) Different transmitted naming Virgo - Tong-sheng in Brancato and Tong-chen at Bichurina.

4) The small difference in transcription of the name Pontius. Brancato uses signs Bo-Que and Bichurin - Ben Di. And he and the other option phonetically far from European sound, but this is due to the fact that the present system of transcription sometimes very different from the one that was adopted in the compilation of texts.

5) omits Bichurin Descent into Hell, while Brancato mentions it. This can be explained by the fact that wished to follow Bichurin embodiment Nicene Creed-Tsar grad in which a descent into hell is not mentioned.

9) This reduction is observed in the nine members: Archimandrite here omits the phrase "effective communion of saints", which is absent in the Nicene-Tsar grad a.

10) Bichurin Here, by contrast, makes adding, as Creed does not mention baptism. Orthodox missionary phrase "I believe in the forgiveness of sins" draws in "I believe that the only baptism (and sheng-xi) obtain remission of sins."

Summarizing, we can say that, in addition to these discrepancies, the Orthodox catechism has a considerable resemblance to the original text. Appearing first experience making doctrinal text in Chinese, catechism incorporates the heritage of Catholic missionaries who accumulated by that time a lot of experience. The Holy Synod not objected to the use of works of Western missionaries, seeing it as an opportunity "... to prevent our profession Christians to read religious books Catholic, for they do not agree with the teachings of the Eastern Church ..." [ 1 , p. 4]. However, the fact that the basis for the text was adopted by a Catholic, played probably a fatal role in the future editions. On one of the copies of the catechism that is stored in the department library Xylographs Institute of Oriental Studies in St. Petersburg, made ​​the following inscription in ink: "... It is printed in Beijing in 1810, or the 11th year / And [eromonahom] Iakinfom - which government / there the disabled and selected" 17 , c. 461] - "The Catechism of the Greek confession, published in Beijing Russian Archimandrite Iakinfom. Boards of this work were destroyed by order of the Chinese government. " While not able to find any Chinese documents concerning the prohibition and confiscation of circulation, nor mention of it in the reports Bichurina. There is also the question of how the "forbidden and selected" by the Chinese government catechism appeared in St. Petersburg. One can only assume that the "selected", he was in Chinese subjects, and in Russia were instances that Fr. Hyacinth did not have time to spread. Probably, the Chinese government discontent was caused by the fact that the source for drafting was the Jesuit publication: China's activity was limited to the Catholic Church from 1724 to 1844 [ 10 , C. 247], and in 1784 the Jesuit Order was officially banned in China, which coincided with the persecution of the Order throughout Europe [ 11 , P. 12]. And, as the title of Archimandrite not changed the source, it is easy to identify. But as long as the documents are found, this remains speculation. If so, then it is easy to understand why Archimandrite Hyacinth refused further attempts to transfer the doctrinal texts and entirely devoted to scholarly activities.

Whatever it was, but in the future we find the works of Mission guidance on the use of interpreters experience Orthodox Catholic missionaries. In one of his records monk 11th Mission Habakkuk (honestly) said the Chinese translation of the Bible: "Worshipful former chief of our mission. Archimandrite Peter had a great service for our future missionaries and Christians Greco-Russian confession, making lists and leaving this translation discharge the same in our library. (...) I can not stop looking sim precious work of Catholic missionaries, and what a pity that now, maybe no one does not use them! In the translation of the Bible, our library has over a hundred different books of philosophical, theological and political works written by Catholic missionaries in Chinese "[ 3 ].

Needless to say that these books are not shelved at and used by translators in their hard work. In 1860 he published a translation "Mirror of the Orthodox Faith" St. Demetrius of Rostov translated ieromonaha Gury (Karpov). Details of this terminology and other works presented in [ 12 , p. 129-135], we also follow her in the instant our creed, term by term.

In translating "Mirror ..." includes the following terms:

1. Single Weiyi, Quanneng Almighty God the Father Shenfu,

Creator of Heaven and earth Zao Cheng Tian Di;

1. Lord Zhu;
2. Holy Spirit Shengshen; Virgo Tongzhen have Bichurina Tunchzhennyuy and Karpov.
3. Crucified Beydin shitszytszya; buried Quan;
4. Fuho risen;

1. shenpan judge entered the term Karpov gunshenpan general court;
2. Shengshen Holy Spirit;
3. Cathedral gong; Church shentszyao hui;
4. shengxi baptism; SHE forgiveness;

12. term eternal life Changsheng entered only in "An extensive catechism" in 1865 and "Summary of the foundations of faith" in 1882, in the "mirror of ..." this concept is transferred signs Yongsheng. Amen also passed different characters.

Note that most of the terms remained unchanged, naming incarnation Used bichurinskoe and some terms have undergone further development (Tunchzhennyuy, gunshenpan).

Summarizing, we can say that the religious texts of Orthodox missionaries were the result of combining the experience of Western Christians on the one hand and their own painstaking work - on the other. Adhering to their positions, Orthodox priests used the findings of their predecessors without distorting his own teaching and developing new missionary approaches, different from Western. Symbolically, the present study is carried out and the combined efforts of the Catholic Institute of Philosophy, Theology and History of St.. Thomas and the Far Eastern Center of the Moscow Theological Academy.

Sources

Fan Guoguang. Tianshen hui ke. (Francesco Brancato. Lessons Assembly angels). Shanghai, 1661.

Fan Guoguang. Tianshen hui ke. (Francesco Brancato. Lessons Assembly angels). Beijing, 1739.

And I jin ones. Tianshen hui ke (Iakinf. Conversations in the collection of angels). Beijing, 1810.

Documentation

1. Archive SPB IVAN, f. 7, op. 1, № 37/4.

2. PO MFN f. 1457, № 24.

3. MD RSL, f. 273. 23.

Literature

4. Hell oratsky N. Father Iakinf Bichurin. (Historical Study.) / / Orthodox interlocutor, 1886.

5. Bichurin NJ Statistical description of the Chinese empire. M. 2002. Foreword Khokhlov AN

6. Bogdanov T., Vasilyev OV Archive Metropolitan Victor (Svjatina) in the National Library. - To Kepping. B. Recent articles and papers. St. Petersburg., 2003, p. 328-358.

7. Vakhtin BB, IS Gurevich, JL Kroll, Stulova ES, AA Toropov Catalog Fund Xylographs Chinese Institute of Oriental Studies. M. GRVL, 1973. In 3 Vols

8. Ivanovskii liturgical books of the Orthodox Church in Chinese. / / Chinese evangelist, 2/2004, p. 115-126.

9. Karezina IP, P. Adamek Orthodox Catechism in Chinese Archimandrite. Iakinfa (Bichurina). XXXVI NC OGC.

10. Lomanov AV Christianity and Chinese culture. M. 2002.

11. Ban TA, Shatalov OV Archival materials on the history of Western and Russian Sinology. St. Petersburg - Voronezh, 2004.

12. Fr. Peter Ivanov. From the history of Christianity in China. M. 2005.

13. PE jumps Essays on the History of Russian Sinology. M. 1977.

14. Khokhlov AN NY Bichurin and his works of Mongolia and China in the first decades of the XIX. / / N. Bichurin and his contribution to Russian Orientalism. (200th anniversary). Proceedings. M. 1977.

15. Khokhlov AN Russian Orthodox Mission in Beijing and the Chinese translations of Christian books. - Chinese linguistics. VIII International Conference. M., 1996, p. 161.

16. Chistovich. Reverend Ambrose. Wanderer, 1860.

17. Chan A., SJ. Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives in Rome. NY, London. (BG).

18. Klaproth J. Note sur L `abrege du catechisme chinoise intitule Thian chin HOEI kho, publie A Peking par l'Archimandrite Hyacinthe Bichourin / / Noveau journal asiatique 8 (1831).

19. Pfister PL SJ. Notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur les Jesuites de l `ancienne mission de Chine. Chang-Hai, 1932. TI

20. Verhaeren H. Ordonnances de la Sainte Eglise / / Monumenta Serica. Vol. IV. Fasc. 2. 1940.

21. Guldner B. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. II. Used Internet resource http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02737b.htm

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