The Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R.
Government will organize a Research Grant Lecture in the Cultural Affairs Bureau
Auditorium (Edifício do Instituto Cultural, Tap Seac Square, Macao) at 6:30pm on
May 26 (Friday). Prof. Qi Yin Ping will give a lecture on “A Study on João
Rodrigues”.
João Rodrigues is one of the most renowned
missionaries in Jesuit history in the Far East. Different from many other
missionaries with noble family backgrounds, Rodrigues was raised in an
orphanage. In his early teens, he was sent to the Far East, where he underwent
systematic theological training. For a long time, Alexander Valignano made
Rodrigues responsible for the Church’s external and economic affairs in Japan.
After he fled to Macao, he acted as the Church’s representative to negotiate
with the Chinese government. He also led an army of Portuguese mercenaries into
China to support the Ming Dynasty authorities.
João Rodrigues was a linguist and historiographer
of the Church’s history. Other than Arte da lingoa de Iapam and Arte
breve da lingoa Iapoa, Rodrigues’ The History of the Church of Japan
can be called the most important work regarding the history of the Church in the
Far East.
Qi Yin Ping obtained a Master Degree in History
from Hangzhou University in 1993 and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Zhejiang
University in 1999. He is currently a professor in Zhejiang University’s
Philosophy Department, a researcher in the university’s Religious Culture
Research Centre and a researcher in the university’s Protestants and Cross
Culture Research Centre. He is also Chairman of the Religious Studies
Association, Chairman of the Japanese History Association and the
person-in-charge for the National Social Sciences Foundation Project “Research
on Catholic History in the Far East”. His academic research includes the history
of the spreading of Catholicism to the East and the history of Chinese and
foreign cultural exchange. Qi has published over 30 articles in China and
overseas, including his books The Study of Early Jesuit History in Japan
(The Commercial Press, 2003) and A Collection of Recent East Asia Jesuit
History (National Taiwan University Press). This research topic was awarded
a grant in the 12th Research Scholarship Competition of the Cultural Affairs
Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government.
The lecture will be given in Mandarin with
Cantonese, Portuguese and English simultaneous interpretation. Entrance is free.
For further details, please contact Ms. Chu of
the Studies, Research and Publications Division of the Cultural Affairs Bureau
at 3996381, or visit the Cultural Affairs Bureau’s website:
www.icm.gov.mo.