What colour will the Church be
18.11.2008
Fr Charles Rue explores the dialogue between Christianity and Taoism in the 7th century in China.
Organisers of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing describe how they want to add Chinese colours to the event. They revealed their plans during an interview on the English speaking Chinese TV station. The lyric names they gave the colours they hope to emphasise was fascinating. Of course Chinese red came first. Then they named porcelain blue, scholar-tree green, ceramic tile yellow, jade white and great-wall grey. They want the Olympics to engage with Chinese culture.
Recently I had the privilege of visiting the site of the first Christian monastery in China built between the 6-8th centuries. It sits in the foothills of the mountains at the Chinese end of the silk-road some 50kms south west of the ancient capital and modern city Xian.
In 635 a Catholic delegation headed by the monk-bishop Aluoben from the Eastern Rite, sometimes wrongly named Nestorian, arrived from central Asia. Its members were invited by the Taoist priests to set up a Christian monastery in the midst of their own monasteries.
Witness to the dialogue which took place between Christians and Taoists over two centuries is the seven storied, 25m pagoda Da Qin. One statue in the pagoda which has somewhat survived the ravages of time, but not open to the public, is a two by three meter depiction of the nativity. The pagoda is deep into the Lou-guan-tai Forest Park where Lao Tzu lived, the founder of Taoism. His monastery has recently been refurbished but the Christian pagoda, 2kms up a dirt track, has yet to become a tourist attraction.
A stone stele erected in 781 gives witness to the depth of the dialogue that took place. On it is carved a part of what scholars have dubbed the Jesus Sutra. This is the name of a modern book on the Da Qin monastery by Dr Martin Palmer. Over time the Chinese Catholic monks worked with the Taoist priests and composed a Jesus story that drew from the writings of both traditions.
As the result of the dialogue between two cultures and two religious traditions, an extensive literature was born. Its content reflects Persian Catholicism of that period which had been in dialogue with Buddhism, and it also incorporated moral teachings from Taoist writings. Other fragments of writings that survive gave expression to the liturgical ritual prayers used by the Chinese Catholics.
Christianity was presented as the Religion of Light. A later Emperor wrote, ‘These teachings are like a raft, carrying salvation, blessings and goodwill to the people of my country.' Buried during the 845 persecution, the stele and scrolls were rediscovered in 1625.
Along with some 2,300 engraved stones from all over China, the original Jesus Sutra stele is now housed in the Forest of Stone Steles Museum in Xian. A copy stands in the grounds of the Christian pagoda, one of five of which one is in the Vatican museum. The original is imposing and stands near three meters high. To show importance, it rides high on the back of a turtle also carved from stone.
Reflecting on both 2007 plans to bring Chinese colour into the Olympics and the Stone century carving of the Jesus Sutras demonstrating religious dialogue, I wonder what colour the church carries for Chinese people? Maybe it has gone beyond great-wall grey as the outline of many old Catholic churches in China would indicate, like the West Church in Beijing.
History tells us that there were greater hopes for Chinese Christianity at various points in time. Apart from the monastery of Da Qin there was the venture of the Franciscan monks and other missionaries in the 13-14th century of the Yuan dynasty following the Mongul invasions. More written records exists about the spirit with which Rome sent missionaries to China after the Urbanum College was set up in in the 16th century. Among other things, they were charged to use Chinese in the liturgy and be open to the possibility of forming a Chinese Rite. The Jesuits and Paris Foreign missionaries in particular headed this change.
However, these hopes did not sit well with many missionaries who wanted to transplant European Christian ways. They won the day so that by 1704 any attempt for a Chinese style church was condemned by Rome. It was only in 1927 that Chinese bishops were consecrated in recognition that a genuine local church must be self-ministering. The question of honouring the dead with Confucian rites was resolved in 1940.
It's never too late for the Church in China to take on local colour. The grounds surrounding the East Church in Beijing host early morning exercise groups, families relaxing and skate-boarders while the church itself has hosted concerts for State dignitaries and wealthy Chinese citizens. When the time comes it is the Chinese Catholics who will choose their local church colours.
Fr Charles Rue is presently on the staff of the Columban Mission Institute in Strathfield, NSW.
