Chinese Jesuit Catechism

This book is the first scholarly study of the famous Jesuit Chinese children's primer, theFour Character Classic, written by Giulio Aleni (1582-1649) while living in Fujian, China. Thisbookalso includes masterful translations of both Wang Yinglin's (1551-1602)hallowed ConfucianThree Character ClassicandAleni's Chinese catechism that was published during the Qing (1644-1911). Clark's careful reading of theFour Character Classicprovides new insights into an area of the Jesuit mission in early modern China that has so far been given little attention, the education of children. Thisbookunderscoreshow Aleni's published work functions as a good example of the Jesuit use of normative Chinese print culture to serve the catechetical exigencies of the Catholic mission in East Asia, particularly his meticulous imitation of Confucian children's primers to promote decidedly Christian content.