Inasmuch as we know so little about Christianity and Catholic Christians in China, it is not surprising that we know even less about Chinese Christian art. Fortunately, some of the earliest Christian art was engraved in nothing less permanent than stone. So we have the famous "Da Qin Stele" dated 04 February 781 AD. (To give us a cross-history date for comparison: Charlemagne was crowned emperor in 800 AD.) Multiple stone carvings survive from Quanzhou (on south coast of China) from the 10th and 14th centuries. These too demonstrate how Christians were assimilating their beliefs to the Chinese culture. We might be tempted to discount this "baptism" of indigenous images until we consider that the early Christian symbol of Jesus the Good Shepherd was modeled on the images of the Greek god Hermes; that the choice of Christmas Day was specifically chosen to assimilate the pagan feast of "Sol Invictus."
18th century Chinese Catholic Christianity went overboard to repudiate this assimilation of cultural artifacts and to distinguish itself from the native Chinese culture. One conspicuously sad example of this was the crass repudiation of Ancestor Worship in the 17th and 18th century. Fierce family disputes erupted---and much of it had to do with the simple Chinese gesture of "bowing with incense" to the revered ancestors. Over-zealous Catholics (and Popes!) saw this cultural gesture as idolatry. It took 200 years to retract this condemnation in 1939.
Fr. Eugene Geinzer signal this issue of cultural appropriation and assimilation to highlight significant Catholic Chinese Art. For example, consider that in the Ming Dynasty 1362-1644 Mary and Jesus were depicted arrayed in Ming Imperial Red garments! Consider that the Qing Dynasty 1644-1911 Christians depicted Mary and Jesus in the brilliant yellow garments of the Qing Emperor. Frequently Guanyi (the Goddess of Mercy) is transmuted into the Sacred Heart. Not only does this appropriation / assimilation occur at the level of "high art." A simple yet beautiful indigenous Chinese art, paper cutting, serves as the template for gorgeous Christian art.
Fr. Eugene Geinzer (Loyola University Maryland) lived in China for 12 years, teaching at The Beijing Center in Beijing, China. He taught Chinese handicrafts and imperial architecture. He was actively engaged with Chinese confreres daily in every kind of discourse including Chinese religions and Christianity and shared collegial conversations with scholars actively studying the flourishing of Christianity in China.
To RSVP for the October 16 session of Sun Rises, fill out the form below. Questions? Please email Mary Lee (mlee@collegiuminstitute.org).