Francis Xavier's arrival in Japan in 1549 initiated a radically different approach to the spread of Christianity which was to distinguish the Jesuits from all other Europeans for the next 200 years - he insisted that his missionaries should respect and understand Japanese culture. His work was continued by Alessandro Valignano, both in Japan and China, where Jesuits gained Confucian scholar status as an introduction to their missionary life, and even became key figures in the Chinese civil service. This book recounts the story of the Jesuit missions in both civilizations. It shows how the Jesuits' sensitivity to Japanese and Chinese culture directly and consciously contradicted the imperialism of the Spanish and the Portuguese, and allowed the possibility of dialogue between East and West which other European stances denied.
- ISBN10 0748604723
- ISBN13 9780748604722
- Publish Date 15 August 1994
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 13 May 1998
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Edinburgh University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 240
- Language English