On the State of the Christian Religion in the Kingdom of China

Pritius (Priz), Johann Georg. De statu religionis Christianae in regno sinensi, ob cultum confutii perturbato relatio, qua rum de controversia circa cultum confutii inter Jesuitas et Dominicanos exorta, tum de legatione Cardinalis Tournonii, in regnum illud ad eamdem sopiendam a Clemente XI [...].

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First edition. A speech given by the Lutheran theologian J. G. Pritius (1662-1732) in July 1709, discussing the then-current situation of Christianity, the Christian mission, and Christian converts in China in the context of the so-called Rites Controversy. Pritius cites the major Jesuit publications and theological texts, as well as Tournon's ill-fated audience with the emperor K'ang-hsi.

From the first issue of Matteo Ricci's "Directives" in 1600 and 1603 to the Jesuits' suppression in 1773, a protracted and acrimonious controversy ensued between Rome, the Society of Jesus and other religious orders over the interpretation of T'ien-chu ("Lord of Heaven") and the accommodation of Confucian rites in Catholic practice. In line with early 17th century Christian humanism, Ricci equated T'ien-chu with God, holding that the rites and veneration of ancestors were not idolatrous. A long and heated pamphlet war ensued, fueled by missionary rivalries largely between the Dominicans, the Propaganda Fide of Rome, and the Jesuits, over toleration of these rites. Rome first restricted use of the Rites by the Jesuits in 1645; then in 1656 allowed that local custom be respected. For over 100 years successive popes both condemned and condoned Jesuit interpretation and practice of the Rites by Chinese converts. Along with other Dominicans, Fernando de Navarette, in China from 1657 and virulently anti-Jesuit, called for a more robust response from Rome. In 1692 the Ch'ing emperor K'ang-hsi, a scholar and reformer, issued an edict of toleration regarding Christian conversions, but required all missionaries in China to sign a declaration that ancestor worship and public homage to Confucius were civil rather than religious ceremonies and could continue to be practised by converts, echoing Ricci. While most Jesuits signed, the Dominicans and Franciscans did not. Damning reports on the state of the Jesuit missions by Bishop Charles Maigrot of the Missions Etrangeres de Paris in China and by Charles Toumon, papal legate to China in 1681, were presented to Rome, and in 1700, following other universities' pronouncements, the Sorbonne issued a strongly worded censure of the Jesuits. By 1773 Rome finally chose to preserve strict Catholic doctrine and outlaw any use of the Rites, at the expense of losing converts. The Jesuits were expelled, and the Society of Jesus was not restored until 1814.

Dedicated to Carl XII of Sweden, with an elegy to both Carl XII and Olof Hermelin, Swedish state secretary. Rare; one copy only in British libraries.