ПОТЕРЯННЫЙ В ПЕРЕВОДЕ: МАТТЕО РИПА И ЕГО РОЛЬ В СПОРЕ О КИТАЙСКИХ РИТУАЛАХ

Abstract

The activity of the Catholic missionary Matteo Ripa is placed here in the context of the Chinese rites controversy (CRC), a religious dispute regarding Christian tolerance of Chinese ancestral worship rituals. I trace the distortions in the literature by analyzing three versions of Ripa’s memoirs entitled Giornale. Contrary to a widespread view, Ripa was neither a Jesuit nor a professional artist. Ripa took an active part in the CRC and opposed the members of the Jesuit Order. Ripa’s memoirs, written upon his return from China, have become a truly real weapon in the struggle between Catholic organizations. The Jesuits prepared the first publication of Ripa’s Giornale (1832) that started shaping the image of Ripa. The editors removed all criticisms of the Jesuit activity in China. Additional distortions arise from the simplified and accessible English-language edition of Giornale (1844) that introduces Ripa as a traveling artist. I study the discrepancies between the versions of Giornale to conclude that misrepresentations of Ripa activity and position are related to his role in the CRC. Suggestion is drawn that the main reason for the distorted image of Matteo Ripa in academic literature was not Jesuit’s desire to change the text and the Ripa’s role in the CRC, as the interest of readers in a shortened and more exciting version of the Giornale of 1844. And the well-publicized activities of the Jesuits in the East contributed to the association of Ripa with this order.