Art as a Pathway to God: A Historical-Theological Study of the Jesuit Mission to China, 1552– 1773

Abstract

Stout reviews Art as a Pathway to God: A Historical-Theological Study of the Jesuit Mission to China, 1552-1773 by Susangeline Yalili Patrick.

Susangeline Yalili Patrick. Art as a Pathway to God: A Historical-Theological Study of the Jesuit Mission to China, 1552- 1773. Brill, 2024. 276 pp. paperback, EUR €59.00, ISBN 9789004677715, E-book, EUR €121.00, ISBN 9789004677739.

Patrick's book makes an important and original contribution to the study of Chinese Christianity. Taking art as the lens, Patrick provides a fresh and richly textured view into the Jesuit mission to China before the suppression of the order in 1773. This work will appeal to a wide audience, who may be interested in Jesuit studies, the history of Chinese Christianity, or the study of Christian art.

The book consists of six chapters. The first chapter explains the author's theoretical framework and interdisciplinary methodology. Art is persuasively presented as a fascinating conjunction of history, theology, and cultural studies. Here the reader will be impressed by the wide scope of sources researched by the author, which include works of art from the Jesuit mission preserved by historical sites and art museums, and textual manuscripts from libraries and archives worldwide. The research entailed fieldwork in eleven countries on three continents, yielding unique discoveries such as an early seventeenth-century coromandel screen depicting biblical narratives, which has never been discussed in academic circles. The second chapter reviews the history of art in Chinese Christianity prior to the Jesuits' arrival in 1552 and the European background in artistic and theological trends contributing to the historical emergence of Jesuit missions. Among other things, this chapter paints a surprising and delightful picture of continuity in the Jingjiao (Nestorian), Franciscan, and later Jesuit missions to China in their common usage of art as a medium to transmit the Christian faith. The third chapter details the Jesuit engagement with art in the late Ming dynasty from 1552 to 1644. The author gives significant attention to the hybridization (Chinese and European) of technique and style in the Jesuit production of art and architecture, and to the global network involved in the production and circulation of Jesuit-related artwork. The fourth chapter describes the Chinese response to and participation in the Jesuit production of Christian art in the late Ming dynasty, shining a much-appreciated light on the perspectives and agency of Chinese Christians in a dynamic dialogical relationship with the Jesuit missionaries. The fifth chapter covers the Jesuit engagement with art during the early Qing dynasty (1644-1773), emphasizing the contributions of seven artist-missionaries employed by the imperial court. The final chapter shows the Chinese interactions with Christian art in the same Qing period, highlighting the creative contribution by Chinese Jesuits and local Christians.

The success of this work is rooted in the author's meticulous attention to the granular aspects of art, history, and theology in her interdisciplinary approach. Art lovers will appreciate her discussion of internecine debates about art in the history of Christianity and the hybridization of Jesuit art in technique, style, and medium. Historians will appreciate the surprising diachronic continuity of the Nestorian, Franciscan, and Jesuit missions revealed through the lens of art and the synchronic complexity in the international as well local dynamics in the production and circulation of Jesuit art. Theologians will be stimulated by the author's powerful demonstration that art is a congenial and effective tool for communicating the Gospel.

On the other hand, two desiderata may be observed in this overall brilliant work. The first concerns the author's treatment of interreligious and intercultural conflict in the encounter between China and the Jesuit mission. Little sympathy is shown to the non-Christian Chinese who misunderstood the meaning behind Christian iconography, and no consideration is made for non-Christian Chinese who might find the converts' public destruction of Chinese images disturbing. The author on two occasions emphasizes the fact that the iconoclastic behavior on the part of converts was a purely Chinese initiative not prompted or encouraged by the Jesuit missionaries, failing to consider the inherent connection between this behavior and the classical Christian teaching against "idolatry" in other religions. Adding to this neglect is the author's lack of any discussion about the Rites Controversy being the most important cause for the Chinese persecution of Christianity in the early Qing dynasty. The complexity surrounding the theological issue of idolatry is clearly evident from the Rites Controversy. Scholars of postcolonial theology and interfaith dialogue have given additional critique to the problem of constructing the religious other through the charges of idolatry. Furthermore, the self-understanding of non-Christian Chinese about the nature and function of their religious images should also be taken into consideration. Without exploring these nuances, the deeper hidden dimension of conflict between Chinese religious art and Christian art, and by extension, the conflict be- tween non-Christian Chinese culture and Christianity, cannot begin to be understood.

A second desideratum concerns the lack of attention paid to the philosophical and spiritual characteristics of traditional Chinese art. The author limits her discussion of Jesuit artistic adaptation to the aspects of technique, style, and medium, but does not probe the rich realm of philosophical and spiritual meaning so important to traditional Chinese aesthetics. For instance, Chapter five mentions the practice of Chinese landscape artists leaving empty white space in their work but reduces the function of this technique to merely helping viewers imagine themselves as part of the landscape. The deeply philosophical and spiritual significance of this practice, that is, using white space as a symbol for the infinite and invisible Dao or Qi, is completely lost in this interpretation. The discussion of the accomplishment by Chinese Christian artists and Jesuit court painters such as Giuseppe Castiglione should provide an opportunity to countenance their appreciation of Chinese aesthetical insights, but the reader is left disappointed in this regard. One cursory mention is made of Giulio Aleni's artwork containing engravings that refer to Confucian symbols and philosophies, but no clue is given as to their content or meaning. For the future study of Jesuit artistic interaction with Chinese culture, it is hard to imagine that serious progress could be made without a sincere appreciation of the philosophy and spirituality of Chinese aesthetics.

Finally, from the perspective of a Chinese Catholic, the reviewer finds two themes in this book worthy of further investigation: Chinese converts" particular attraction to Marian images; and the frequent association of miracles among Chinese faithful with the veneration of Christian images. More stories ought to be told about these two fascinating phenomena.

Huili Shen STOUT

University of Dayton