The Concept of the Soul During the Chinese Rites Controversy: The Example of Xia Dachang

Abstract:Soon after Matteo Ricci started his missionary work in China, he realized that there was no Chinese term equivalent to the Christian concept of the anima—a human soul that is individual, spiritual, and immortal. To develop this concept in Chinese, Ricci creatively invoked Chinese ancestral sacrifices, arguing that the sacrifices are made to the individual, immortal souls (linghun 靈魂) of deceased ancestors. Ricci’s strategy, after enjoying decades of success, was called into question during the Chinese Rites Controversy, when mendicant missionaries condemned ancestral rites as idolatrous. Chinese converts, who hoped to continue practicing ancestral rites, argued that the rites were merely an expression of gratitude, which does not involve the “reception” of sacrifices by the ancestors. But the question is, how should they then explain the concept of the anima to fellow Chinese?In this article, I examine the conception of the soul by Xia Dachang 夏大常 (before 1624–after 1686), a Confucian literatus who converted to Christianity at the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. A close reading of Xia’s treatise On the Soul suggests that he uses the framework of Mencius’s xing shan 性善—that human beings are by nature good—to explain the concept of the soul. Xia’s conception of the soul represents one way in which the concept of the soul could be received by Christians who were deeply influenced by Confucianism.摘要:利瑪竇在中國開展傳教工作之後不久即意識到中文中沒有與基督教中的「靈魂」這一概念相對等的詞彙。以基督教的理解，人的靈魂是個體的、精神的、不死的。為了在中文中建立靈魂這一概念，利瑪竇有創意地援引中國傳統中的祭祖禮，指出後輩之所以祭祀，是因為祖宗雖然已經死去，但是他們的靈魂仍作為個體存在，並能接受後輩的祭品。利瑪竇對靈魂的解釋在當時獲得了成功，並被中國基督徒廣泛接受。但是幾十年之後，利瑪竇的策略受到了挑戰。此時中國禮儀之爭已經開始，托缽修會的傳教士認為中國的祭祖禮有拜偶像的嫌疑。中國的基督徒為了能繼續參與祭祖禮，強調祭祖禮只是對祖宗先輩表達感恩之情的一種儀式，並不涉及祖宗對祭品的接受。但是如果否認祖宗的靈魂對祭品的接受，他們又如何對其他的中國人解釋“靈魂”這一概念呢？本文考察中國儒家基督徒夏大常（1624年前至1686年後）對靈魂這一概念的理解。生活在十七世紀的夏大常，原本深受儒家思想影響，後來皈依天主教（時間不詳）。夏大常的《性說》一文以孟子的性善説為框架，對靈魂的概念進行了較為詳盡的闡述。夏對於靈魂的理解在對中國禮儀之爭時期受儒家思想影響的基督徒如何接受靈魂這一概念有一定的代表性。