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This abstract describes a bilingual (Chinese and Latin) imperial edict issued on 9 November 1785—the eighth day of the tenth lunar month in the fiftieth year of the Qianlong reign—alongside a contemporaneous ecclesiastical dispatch dated 22 January 1786 from Macau. The document records the Qing Emperor’s conditional release of twelve European missionaries, including Patiliano (Father Joannes a Salsis), who had entered China without official authorisation and were apprehended across multiple provinces including Huguang, Zhili, Guangdong, Gansu, Jiangxi, and Sichuan. It details the Emperor’s rationale for initial sentencing to perpetual imprisonment—citing clandestine movement and proselytisation as disruptive analogues to the legendary venomous serpent *Guiyu*—and his subsequent clemency, permitting the missionaries either residence in Beijing churches (*jiaotang*) or repatriation to Macau under imperial auspices. The dispatch, authored by Martinho de Melo, Apostolic Administrator *ad interim* of Macau, reports ceremonial reception in Beijing—including imperial audience, liturgical celebration at the Cathedral, and solemn processions—as well as the identities and nationalities of twelve missionaries en route to Macau, among them Bishop Francisco Gabriel Turin of Sichuan, Italian, Spanish, French, Macanese, and Colombian clergy. The text reflects Qing administrative procedures, jurisdictional roles of the Board of Rites (*Lifan Yuan*) and Ministry of Justice (*Xingbu*), and missionary interpretations of imperial favour, including the term *Condegiro* as colloquial reference to high-ranking mandarins. This material constitutes a primary source for studying Sino-European religious diplomacy, Qing legal administration, and Catholic missionary activity in late eighteenth-century China.
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This abstract describes a Qing dynasty imperial edict, promulgated on 23 April 1785 (15th day of the third lunar month in the fiftieth year of the Qianlong reign) and publicly posted in Macau on 10 December 1785, concerning the suppression of Christianity in China. Issued under the authority of Chi, Viceroy (*Sontoc*) of Guangdong and Guangxi, and Lua, Provincial Governor (*Foyem*) of Guangdong, the document records the Board of Punishments’ formal rulings—endorsed by Grand Councillor Kong Ho and approved by the Qianlong Emperor—against European missionaries and Chinese converts. It details the arrest, interrogation, and sentencing of numerous individuals, including Franciscan priests João de Safary, José de Bientina, Luís de Santo António, and João Baptista de Mandelo; bishops Francisco Magni and António Maria Laconi; and Chinese clergy such as Francisco Grima, António, Manuel Gonçalves, Caetano Siu, and Lieou Haitie. The edict specifies punishments ranging from life imprisonment and forced labour in Yli to banishment, corporal punishment, confiscation of property, and destruction of religious materials, while mandating the systematic identification and prosecution of converts, catechists (*xintu*), and ecclesiastical supervisors (*jiao-yuan*) across provinces including Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hunan, Gansu, Hubei, and Fujian. The text also documents the roles of lay intermediaries—including Sinlou, Pedro Hai, and Licou Hactie—in facilitating missionary movement and correspondence, and outlines administrative directives for provincial officials regarding enforcement, property seizure, and ideological re-education.
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Primary Sources
Subject Headings
- Bishops of Macau (1)
- Education (1)
Resource type
- Manuscript (69)
Publication year
- Between 1700 and 1799 (69)