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The 'Summa Theologiae' in Chinese

[AQUINAS, Thomas].
Chaozing xueyao. (Tchao sin hio yao).




(No place, no date; probably early 20th century). 7 vols. out of a larger corpus. 8vo. Traditional Chinese binding with new wrappers,  pasted title label with Chinese characters and titles in contemp. ms. on front wrapper, preserved in a modern blue cloth slipcase with ivory clasps.

Early 20th century Chinese translation of the most famous work of Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274), the Summa Theologiae. The Chinese translation of the Index was completed, but the translation of the Summa Theologiae was, just like the original work, never finished. The first edition was published in Beijing between the years 1654 and 1678.
The work was intended as a manual for beginners and served as a compilation of all of the main theological teachings of that time. It summarizes the reasonings for almost all points of Christianity in general and the Catholic faith in particular. The topics follow a cycle: the existence of God, God's creation, Man, Man's purpose, Christ, the Sacraments, and back to God. It is famous for its five arguments for the existence of God , the quinquae viae. Throughout his work, Aquinas cites Augustine, Aristotle, and other Christian, Jewish and even Muslim and ancient pagan scholars.
In some volumes the Jesuit priest Li Leisi (= Lodovico Buglio) is mentioned as translator. Lodovico Buglio was born in Mineo (Sicily) on January 26, 1606. He entered the Company of Jesus when he was 17. After teaching for several years in Rome he went on a mission to China in 1637. There he worked for 45 years and received the title of Great Mandarin. Buglio died in Beijing on the 7th of October 1682. Buglio wrote about 80 works in Chinese. He also participated, together with the Fathers Ferdinand Verbiest and Gabriel Magalhaens on the reformation of the Chinese calender.
Five of the 7 vols. bear ms. titles on the title labels: Index (2 vols), De Creatione primi hominis and De Deo uno et trin(itate) (2 vols).
Good copy.- (Some minor wormholes).
Cordier, L'imprimerie Sino-Européenne en Chine, 52-3 (mentiones Buglio as the author); De Backer-Sommervogel, col. 364, 14 (idem).

Related Subjects: China  Jesuits 

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