From the Opium War in 1842 to the Pacific War in 1942, exactly one hundred years passed. It seems that both the beginning and the end of this century were shrouded in the darkness of continuous warfare, but the book Flowing Through the Century: From T'ou-Sè-Wè to Zhuxianghui, written by Mr. Yao Peng, a collector of modern publications, not only tells of many lesser-known people and events but also portrays the ideas and thinking that the Catholic Church brought to China during its golden period of expansion.
As we turn the pages of this 1,300-page masterpiece, the history of the Catholic Church's exploration and thought process in China through its publications over the past century or so becomes much clearer. In the hundred years between the Opium War in 1842 and the Pacific War in 1942, the Catholic Church established a number of publishing houses in different parts of the country, such as the Shanghai T'ou-Sè-Wè Press and Victory Press, Ho-Kien, and published some 6,800 books. While the books published were mainly used for missionary work or sacraments, there were also many books on the study of Eastern and Western cultures; Chinese texts were also translated to help Westerners understand Chinese culture and the Chinese world. In addition, the customs and real-life scenes of many of China's ethnic groups were recorded by missionaries who traveled to China's frontiers as they preached.
Mr. Yao Peng, the author, who has collected the documents over the years, selected more than 1,000 representative and important documents and formed this masterpiece with a logical order as the outline and a chronological order as the sequence.
The book is in two volumes with a total of 60 chapters, covering various types of books published in China by missionaries, as well as documents related to Chinese culture published overseas from 1842 to 1942. It includes teaching materials, academic monographs, tool books, newspapers, and magazines, as well as some valuable manuscripts and rubbings of stone engravings. It also contains commentaries on the documents of the Jesuits and other missionaries, as well as further information on Sinology topics such as the translation of Chinese historical texts, laws and decrees, and the interpretation of folk customs and social phenomena. A significant number of maps of cities and waterways drawn at the time are also included.
The book sketches the reality of how missionaries lived and worked in China, and presents the important development in the history of sinology from “missionary sinology” to “professional sinology.”
Born in Beijing in 1956, Mr. Yao Peng graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Fudan University and received his Master's degree in the History of Western Philosophy from the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. A renowned philosopher, historian, and religious historian, he has devoted himself to the study of Chinese Catholic history and the historical documents of Chinese Christianity.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
1842年鸦片战争到1942年太平洋战争，整整一百年的时间，看似这个百年的起点与终点都处于连绵战火的黑暗中，一本经由近代出版物收藏家姚鹏老先生之手的著作《百年流泽：从土山湾到诸巷会》，不仅讲述了许多鲜为人知的人物与事件，也再现了天主教在中国拓展黄金期点燃的思想亮光。
当我们翻开这部长达1300多页的巨著，1842年鸦片战争到1942年太平洋战争，百余年中天主教在中国大地上以书籍开启的探究与思索也渐渐明朗与开阔起来。这百年间，天主教在全国多地创办了几十家出版机构，如上海土山湾印书馆、河间胜世堂印书房，出版了大约六千八百种书籍。出版的书籍主要用于宣教或圣事，也有大量研究东西方文化的书作。也编译出版中国典籍，向西方人介绍中国世界、理解中华文化。此外，游走中国边疆宣教途中的传教士们还记录了中华大地许多民族的风土人情与生活实景。
作者姚鹏老师集结了多年来收藏的文献，选择其中一千余种具有代表性的重要文献，以逻辑次序为纲目，以时间顺序为脉络，形成了这部《百年流泽：从土山湾到诸巷会》。
本书分为上下两册，共60章，涵盖了1842-1942年间以传教士为主在中国刊印出版的各类书籍以及海外出版的与中国文化相关的文献。整部书收录教材、学术专著、工具书、报刊杂志，其中还有一些珍贵的手稿、碑拓等。书中有对耶稣会等传教士文献的介绍，也有对我国历史典籍和律令翻译、民间习俗及社会现象阐释等汉学研究的说明，还有大批当时绘制的城池、水道等地图资料的展示。
这部书作勾勒了传教士在中国工作生活的真实面貌，呈现了“传教士汉学”向“专业汉学”这一汉学史重要演变的过程。
作者简介：姚鹏，1956年生于北京，复旦大学哲学系毕业，中共中央党校西方哲学史专业硕士研究生。著名哲学家、历史学家、宗教史学家。致力于中国天主教史、中国基督教史文献的研究。
好书推荐丨《百年流泽：从土山湾到诸巷会》：梳理百年间传教士在华刊印物
From the Opium War in 1842 to the Pacific War in 1942, exactly one hundred years passed. It seems that both the beginning and the end of this century were shrouded in the darkness of continuous warfare, but the book Flowing Through the Century: From T'ou-Sè-Wè to Zhuxianghui, written by Mr. Yao Peng, a collector of modern publications, not only tells of many lesser-known people and events but also portrays the ideas and thinking that the Catholic Church brought to China during its golden period of expansion.
As we turn the pages of this 1,300-page masterpiece, the history of the Catholic Church's exploration and thought process in China through its publications over the past century or so becomes much clearer. In the hundred years between the Opium War in 1842 and the Pacific War in 1942, the Catholic Church established a number of publishing houses in different parts of the country, such as the Shanghai T'ou-Sè-Wè Press and Victory Press, Ho-Kien, and published some 6,800 books. While the books published were mainly used for missionary work or sacraments, there were also many books on the study of Eastern and Western cultures; Chinese texts were also translated to help Westerners understand Chinese culture and the Chinese world. In addition, the customs and real-life scenes of many of China's ethnic groups were recorded by missionaries who traveled to China's frontiers as they preached.
Mr. Yao Peng, the author, who has collected the documents over the years, selected more than 1,000 representative and important documents and formed this masterpiece with a logical order as the outline and a chronological order as the sequence.
The book is in two volumes with a total of 60 chapters, covering various types of books published in China by missionaries, as well as documents related to Chinese culture published overseas from 1842 to 1942. It includes teaching materials, academic monographs, tool books, newspapers, and magazines, as well as some valuable manuscripts and rubbings of stone engravings. It also contains commentaries on the documents of the Jesuits and other missionaries, as well as further information on Sinology topics such as the translation of Chinese historical texts, laws and decrees, and the interpretation of folk customs and social phenomena. A significant number of maps of cities and waterways drawn at the time are also included.
The book sketches the reality of how missionaries lived and worked in China, and presents the important development in the history of sinology from “missionary sinology” to “professional sinology.”
Born in Beijing in 1956, Mr. Yao Peng graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Fudan University and received his Master's degree in the History of Western Philosophy from the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. A renowned philosopher, historian, and religious historian, he has devoted himself to the study of Chinese Catholic history and the historical documents of Chinese Christianity.
- Translated by Joyce Leung
History Book Reviews Missionary Publications in China in the Past Century
