austraLasia #2955
 

Spiritual Sinology: A Chinese Gem

BEIJING-ROME: Every once in a while along life's journey, a true little gem of scholarship comes our way. Such is the case of Sinologia Spirituale, Lettere (immaginarie) dal medioevo ai tempi nostri di 50 missionari che amarono la Cina, by Michele Ferrero, or in English, Spiritual Sinology, (imaginary) letters, from the Middle Ages until the present day, by 50 missionaries who loved China.
    Michele Ferrero is Professor of Latin and Western Classics at Beijing Foreign Studies University as part of an exchange program between this university and the UPS, Rome. He is also a researcher at the BFSU, involved especially in translation of early Western Sinology texts, many of them written in Latin. Readers may well know Michele Ferrero, or have been taught by him (e.g. at Ratisbonne). He has dedicated himself to our Region for a good number of years now.
     The work, currently in polished Italian but already with an English translation under way, was published by LAS on the Feast of Sts Louis Versiglia and Callistus Caravario this year. As soon as the English translation is complete, we will be the first to let you know.
    It is an engaging, indeed alluring read. As Professor Ferrero points out in his brief intro, the lives and stories of these men and women are authentic. He has read and translated their real letters but has chosen, in each case, to write what could have been the 'last' letter each had ever written. This clever epistolary literary device enables him to recapitulate their life story in their own 'first person' style, with the reader as implicit third person, although the addressee is someone else. It is a finely-balanced play between public and private - and it works, not just because of the device, but because it is clearly in the hands of an expert sinologue, Michele Ferrero himself, who is able to meld his own reflections with those of his subjects. In a brief note to austraLasia, he wondered: "Surely a more spiritual vision of China is needed, but surely, too, there are better books around". Are there?  This one is very special.
    It should be no surprise, given the history of Christianity in China, that there are a good number of Jesuits amongst the selected missionaries, and a fair smattering of Italians too, but the selection overall is even-handed: men and women, Catholics and Protestants, individuals and couples from many countries, who have all loved Christ and loved China.  
     No surprise, either, that there is 'Un sinologo salesiano santo', a Salesian Saint and sinologue in the final section, which deals with post-imperial (after 1911) China. If you can read Italian, it would be worth your while getting hold of a copy of this 219 page 'saggio', retailing at €14. If you need a copy in English, you may not have to wait too long!