Zheng Manuo (Weixin), better known from extant historical sketches as Emmanuel de Sequeira (Chinese: 鄭瑪諾, Portuguese: Emmanuel de Sequeira, 1633–1673), was the first Chinese clergyman and a member of the monastic Congregation of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). Zheng Manuo was one of the first Chinese in history to travel to Europe to study. In addition to successfully absorbing the theological and philosophical disciplines taught in Italian and Latin, upon graduation and ordination he became the first Chinese professor to begin teaching theology to European society. After his return to China, he skillfully applied the knowledge acquired in Europe, building a strategy of enculturation of Christianity, considering the cultural and religious peculiarities of his own people and transmitting the basics of Catholic doctrine in his native language. This article attempts to analyze the experience of cultural interaction between China and Europe in the life of Zheng Manuo based on the reconstruction of the few archival records of the Jesuit Congregation that have survived. Unfortunately, his name is practically not mentioned in Russian religious studies and sinology, and, consequently, his activity and contribution to the development of intercultural interaction between China and Europe remains understudied, thus acquiring its novelty.
Key words: Roman Catholic Church, inculturation of Christianity, intercultural dialogue, interreligious dialogue, evangelization, missionary work, theology, culture, China, Europa, Jesuits, Zheng Manuo
DOI: 10.22250/20728662_2023_4_5
About the author
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Nikolai V. Chirkov – religious studies scholar, PhD, Associate Professor at the Institute of St. Tomas Aquinas (Žilina, Slovakia), Department of the Pontifical Salesian University (Turin, Italy); Head of the Frontier Research Laboratory, Amur State University (Blagoveshchensk, Russia); 27 Sebastiana Caboto str., Torino, 10129, Italy; сhirkovniko@gmail.com |