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- Convenor:
-
Maria Grazia Petrucci
(University of British Columbia)
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- Stream:
- History
- Location:
- Bloco 1, Piso 0, Sala 0.05
- Sessions:
- Friday 1 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
This panel explores the pedagogical, literary and commercial aspects of the interaction between European Jesuits and their influences in sixteenth and early seventeenth century Japan.
Long Abstract:
The long sixteenth Christian century has been the period of major interaction between European religious men of various orders and merchants with the Japanese. This panel's presentations reassess the above mentioned interaction by investigating less known events and works that took place and that were produced in that period. Dr. Cabral Bernabè analyzes the early method of conversion brought about by the Jesuit Marco Jorge and its original differences with the Doctrina that was actually adopted by 1590s. From an historic viewpoint Dr. Marino engages in the reappraisal of the interpreter par excellence Rodriguez Tçuzzu, as an historian of Japan, by examining an unpublished work of Rodriguez and his own interpretation of the conversion work performed by Spanish missionaries in Japan. The Jesuits as other European religious orders became mediators between the Japanese and European merchants, the word "mediators" is an understatement, in fact the Jesuits converted to Christianity the top layers of Japanese society including their mercantile elite. Their commercial interactions are analyzed by Dr. Petrucci's presentation of Matteus de Couros' denial of supporting the Toyotomi regime at the Battle of Osaka Castle, by reinterpreting in economic terms the accusation of Maruyama Tōan Antonio against Suetsugu Heizō João both Nagasaki Harbour's officials who had deep connections with European religious orders such as Jesuits and Dominicans. The investigations offered by this panel bring to the fore new problematic and further questions on a major period of interaction and transformation in the history of Japan.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 1 September, 2017, -Renata Cabral Bernabé (University of São Paulo (Brazil))
Paper short abstract:
This paper will present a comparison between the Catechism "Doutrina Cristã", written by the Portuguese Jesuit Marcos Jorge in 1566, and its Japanese version, translated primarily in 1568 and printed in 1591 in the press brought from Europe to Japan, by Alessandro Valignano in the previous year.
Paper long abstract:
In the 16th century, the production of Christian catechisms by either Catholic or Protestant authors in Europe increased considerably. These catechisms were brought to the Christian missions all over the globe and played an important role in the proselytizing work of the European missionaries overseas. However, with all the new encounters provided by the Great Navigations, these missionaries realized that a different approach was necessary for each and every population they intended to Christianize.
In Japan, the first two catechisms used in the evangelization of the local population were made inside the mission, by Jesuit priests that were working there. In the late 1560's, a doctrine written by the Portuguese Jesuit Marcos Jorge arrived in the archipelago and was immediately translated to Japanese. In 1570, the mission superior, Francisco Cabral, declared this doctrine as the official one for the Japanese mission.
Jorge's doctrine was the most used catechism within the Portuguese Padroado. Translations of it were made to at least five languages from three different continents where the Jesuits had missions. It surely may be considered a paradigm of the Jesuit Proselytizing politics inside the Portuguese empire.
From 1570 on, its Japanese version was the only catechism used in Japan by the Jesuits. In 1591, it was printed in the press brought from Europe by the Visitor of Eastern Indies, Alessandro Valignano. Therefore, the printed version was made after more than two decades of use and experimentation within the Japanese Christian population. In 1600, a revised edition was published, both in Roman and Japanese characters.
Although the Japanese version may well be considered a translation of Jorge's work, there are important modifications that deserve a special attention, notably the additions that were included. After years of use, the missionaries surely noticed that some points of the Christian doctrine had to be explained in a more detailed way for the Japanese. Thus, by analyzing these additions, it is possible to identify what was more polemic for that audience, when considering the Christian doctrine.
Giuseppe Marino (Fudan University)
Paper short abstract:
The Jesuit mission in Japan was founded in 1549 and continued until the 1620s when government persecution eradicated the Christian church in the country. Among the priests working on the mission was João Rodrigues who was appointed to collect material for the compilation of a history of the mission.
Paper long abstract:
This paper analyzes the work of the Jesuit João Rodrigues Tsûzu from the unusual perspective as a Mission historian's and as a chronicler of the Japan's Christian century (1550-1650). It is a research that primarily attempts to re-establish the Portuguese author as the only creator of his writings, often attributed to its homonymous Rodrigues Giram; secondly, to study in dept some of his written documents not well known until now. The main intention is to shed light on a still unpublished manuscript that was part of the ambitious project of the Portuguese interpreter titled História da Igreja do Japão, a work transcribed and translated only partially. Therefore, it is necessary to rescue the third book or Livro terceiro da História of Rodrigues Tsûzu História's, as a document that provides new information and a different perspective on the first attempt to Christianize Japan by the Spanish saint Francis Xavier between years 1549 and 1552.
Maria Grazia Petrucci (University of British Columbia)
Paper short abstract:
In the early seventeenth century the Tokugawa regime implemented trade regulations unfavorable to the Portuguese who traded in Nagasaki, due to its consolidation of power. The controversy between Murayama Tōan and Suetsugu Heizō, both prominent officials, shows their support for the previous regime.
Paper long abstract:
The controversy between Maruyama Antonio Tōan, the Nagasaki deputy and Suetsugu Heizō Joan, the Nagasaki magistrate and his deputy in the early seventeenth century, brought to the fore the resistance to the Tokugawa trading policies that the regime had swiftly implemented since the early seventeenth century. Maruyama Antonio accused Suetsugu Heizō Joan of sponsoring Toyotomi Hideyori against the Tokugawa regime and his accusation is reappraised here within the context of the Tokugawa trading regulations and the factionalism existing among the various catholic orders in relations to trading harbors and territorial partitions in Kyushu. Both Maruyama and Suetsugu had vested interests in the Portuguese and Spanish trade, both were Christians and prominent people in the mercantile world of Nagasaki. Although it is not known what is the cause that brought Maruyama Tōan to accuse Suetsugu Heizō, besides personal grudges, this paper shed lights on the possibility that in fact economic reasons such as the benefits from trade were at the core of such conflict. In a larger context the conflict arose from the trade politics of the Tokugawa versus the Portuguese and Spanish, which included the banishment of the Christian fathers from Japan and the consequent restrictions on Portuguese and Spanish traders.