This Suffering Is My Joy

Tracing the little-known history of the first underground Catholic church in China, Mungello illuminates the century between the imperial expulsion of missionaries in 1724 and their return with European colonialism in the 1800s. This time of persecution offered an opportunity for the Chinese, rather than Europeans, to control their own church.

Tracing the little-known history of the first underground Catholic church in China, noted scholar D. E. Mungello illuminates the period between the imperial expulsion of foreign Christian missionaries in 1724 and their return with European colonialism in the 1800s. Few realize that this was the first time in which Chinese, rather than Europeans, came to control their own church as Chinese clergy and lay leaders maintained communities of clandestine Catholics.

Mungello follows the church in a time of persecution, focusing in particular on the role of Chinese clergy and lay leaders in maintaining communities of clandestine Catholics during the eighteenth century. He highlights the parallels between the 1724 and 1951 expulsions of missionaries from China, the first driven by a Chinese imperial system and the second by a revolutionary Communist government. The two periods also reflected foreign bias against the Chinese priests and laity and questions about their spiritual depth and constancy. However, Mungello shows that the historical record of incarcerated and interrogated Christians reveals a spiritually inspired resistance to government oppression and a willingness to suffer, often to the point of martyrdom.

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Author’s Note

1 The Underground Church in China

Historical Background

The Auspicious Beginning of Catholicism in China

The Eighteenth-Century Crisis

2 Matteo Ripa’s Attempt to Establish a School for Chinese Priests in China

Fr. Matteo Ripa’s Spiritual Vision

Ripa’s Journey to China

Ripa at the Chinese Court

Ripa’s First School for Boys

Opposition to Ripa’s School

Ripa Departs Beijing with Five Chinese

The Journey from Guangzhou (Canton) to London and Naples

3 Founding of the Chinese College for Priests in Naples

Financial Struggles in Founding the Chinese College

The First Chinese College Graduates Return to China

Problems with Chinese Students in Naples

More Students Arrive from China

Lucio Wu as Ripa’s “Perpetual Cross to Bear”

Lucio’s Second Flight and Imprisonment in Castel Sant’Angelo

4 Racial and Cultural Tensions between Chinese and European Priests

Fr. Filippo Huang in China

Fr. Huang’s Struggles as a Missionary in Northern Shanxi

Growing Tensions between Chinese and European Priests

Anti-Christian Movement (“Great Persecution”) of 1784

5 Emergence of the Underground Church

The Underground Church in Japan

The Formation of Chinese Jesuit Priests

Chinese Priests and Catechists in Sichuan

The Formation of Chinese Underground Priests

Christian Virgins (Chaste Women) in Sichuan

Chinese Priests in Jiangnan

6 European and Chinese Forms of Martyrdom

Sacrifice and Martyrdom among Chinese Priests and Catechists

Indigenous Chinese Catholic Leadership

Mendicant Martyrdoms

Chinese Christian Martyrdoms

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index