The Image Of Our Lady In The Biography Of The Virgin Mary In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, Catholic missionaries entered China to do missionary work, which formed another wave of cultural exchange between China and Europe. The encounter has been discussed by scholars from China and other areas in various kinds of aspects. This paper centers on the two biographies of Mary written in Chinese to discuss the different images of Mary in China. One biography of Mary is Sheng Mu Xing Shi written by Gao Yi Zhi(Alphonsus Vagnoni, an Italian missionary) and it is also the first biography of Mary in China at that time. The other biography of Mary is Sheng Mu Zhuan, the first biography of Mary written by Chinese Catholics. Its author is Li Di, a Chinese native missionary in Late Qing Dynasty. As a biography, Sheng Mu Xing Shi gives prominence to Mary’s saintly image while Sheng Mu Zhuan highlights Mary’s virtuous image. All in all, they all transform the Mary’s image in the western theology in a Chinese way.The Bible has not much information about the Virgin Mary and a complete record of Mary’s life depends on the relevant contents in the hagiographies and Apocrypha. It is very evident that the two biographies of Mary above have both referred to them. The different images of Mary come from the numerous Apocrypha and hagiographies, and the Chinese ethical constraint is also a very important factor. Conveying Mary’s image is an important part of the missionary work but different Chinese people have different images of Mary in Ming and Qing dynasties. In this paper, first sort out the various Mary’s biographies in Ming and Qing dynasties, then concentrate on the images of the Virgin in the two biographies above, and compare them with the Bible. And last discuss the acceptance of the Virgin in China and explore the localization of Mary in China in Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties.