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Rare eye-witness account of the anti-Catholic persecutions in China in 1784-85

MATTEI DI BIENTINA, Giuseppe.
Compendio della storia della persecuzione mossa contro la Cattolica religione nell' impero della Cina l'anno del signore MDCCLXXXIV.

Woodcut end pieces. Printed on thick light blue paper.

Firenze, Gaetano Cambiagi, 1789. 8vo. Contemporary vellum, gilt title on spine, red painted edges. Woodcut end pieces. Printed on thick light blue paper. 131 pp.

Rare first and only edition of an account on the persecution of Catholic missionaries in China in the year 1784 by the eye-witness Franciscan father Giuseppe Mattei di Bientina.
On the 27th of the eighth lunar month of 1784 Giuseppe Mattei, together with three other Franciscan fathers - Giovanni da Sassari, Luigi Landi da Signa and Giovanni Battista da Mandello - arrived in a small boat at Baijia Wan near the borders of Hubei and Shaanxi provinces. They were sent from Macao to look after the Catholic communities in Shaanxi province, but they were immediately arrested on the beach and taken to Wuhang, the provincial capital of Hubei. Three months before their arrival a Muslim uprising had taken place in Gansu and the authorities assumed that the missionaries had come to support the Muslim rebels. After troublesome interrogations complicated by severe language problems, the missionaries were expelled from China and they arrived at the Philippines in 1786 (cf. the letter written by Mattei in Manila, 25 July 1786, printed on p. 14 of the present book).
Although Mattei gives in his Compendium a very interesting eye-witness account of his mission from the Catholic perspective, these events, which led to an anti-Catholic campaign of much bigger scale, have to be considered within the wider context of political culture and bureaucratic reform in China during the reign of the Qianlong emperor (1735-1796). Qianlong exploited the anti-Christian campaign and persecution to revigorate his ruling machine and to enforce his control over the Imperial bureaucracy. Though there were no connections found between Catholics and Muslims, Qianlong was surprised to discover an extensive Catholic network across the inland provinces. The anti-Christian campaign that was launches, quickly evolved into a war against the imperial bureaucracy. By situating these persecutions in the broader context of Chinese imperial politics, the complexity of Church-State relations in 18th-century China become apparent.

Very fine untouched copy, with the bookplate from the library of Jacopo Guiseppe Mannucci Benincasa pasted on title.

B.H. Willeke, Imperial government and Catholic Missions in China during the years 1784-85 (New York, Franciscan Institute, 1948), pp. 22ff.; Ma, Zhao, 'The anti-Christian campaign and Imperial control in 18th-century China', in: Asia Pacific: Perspectives; an electronic journal, 5, 1 (2004), pp. 18-20; only 3 copies in NUC, 2 via KVK.

Related Subjects: 18th Century Catholicism China Italy Mission

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