Little Blue Book
Earlier this week, the kids and I went to see Ian Johnson speak about his new book, The Souls of China: the Return of Religion after Mao. His book, the product of six years of research, has been garnering well-deserved attention. It is an amazing read, covering an interesting breadth of religious experience across China.
This week America magazine ran an interview the author on their website. I was distracted, though, by the caption under the lead photograph. It was a file photo I had seen elsewhere. The caption read, "A girl looks at a Bible during Mass in 2016 at a Beijing cathedral. As young people move to cities, Catholic grandparents in rural areas are passing on the faith to their grandchildren. (CNS photo/How Hwee Young, EPA)."
However, it wasn't a Bible in the picture. Not only was it too small to be that, the cover was emblazoned in gold Traditional Characters, "聖教日課." I recognized it immediately as I have two at home.
I remembered I had been wanting to blog about this book for some time.
This book, in simplified Chinese 圣教日课 Shèng jiào rì kè, is actually a prayer and catechetical book found with the blue cover everywhere in Catholic Beijing (I've seen elsewhere red covers and black ones, too). Of course, I wouldn't expect anyone not involved with the Chinese Catholic Church to recognize it, but I was hoping that someone associated with America might have at the least some passing familiarity with this little volume. The 圣教日课 exists because of the Jesuits who first came to China more than 400 years ago. Jesuits!
Among the first Jesuits who established themselves in China was a Sicilian priest named Nicolò Longobardo (sometimes also written as Nicholas Longobardi). His Chinese name was 龙华民 Lónghuá mín, which, curiously, means Dragon Chinese-People. Fr. Longobardo in 1602 compiled the earliest version of today's 圣教日课. He wanted to provide the new Chinese Catholics instruction about prayer and doctrine, and he used the books of Bl. Luis de Granada as a guide. The Latin title for his book was Exercitium quotidianum variarum precum.
In 1655 JESUITS Ferdinand Verbiest (南懷仁 Nán huáirén) and Lodovico Buglio (利类思 Lì lèi sī) revised Longobardo's 圣教日课. Today's version follows a format similar to that of the 1655 edition. This website provides a good overview about the history of Catholic prayers in Chinese, with some focus on 圣教日课.
My own copy of 圣教日课 is not nearly as marked up as my hymnal (as seen in a video this post). The hymnal has plenty of room for me to scribble pronunciation notes. The 圣教日课 is much too small for all my notes. When I do use 圣教日课, I usually refer to it to find a particular prayer, then search for the text online so I can make my own copy to include the pinyin. Like this prayer, 已领圣体祝文 Yǐ lǐng shèngtǐ zhù wén, meaning something like "having received the Eucharist."
This chant, can be heard early in the video found here. I used my little blue prayer book to come up with my own cheat sheet.
The 圣教日课 also has the Order of the Mass.
This section about the rosary is a much more recent addition than the original 17th century book. It begins with mentioning the Apostolic Letter by Pope John Paul II dated 16 October, 2002.
This book is not just a prayer book but also contains catechesis. This page begins with a discussion of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The 圣教日课 is more than 400 pages long. It is an incredible handbook for Chinese Catholicism, and at this point I have scarcely scratched the surface. It is a credit to those brave Jesuits that millions of souls in China still rely on their book to this day.
This week America magazine ran an interview the author on their website. I was distracted, though, by the caption under the lead photograph. It was a file photo I had seen elsewhere. The caption read, "A girl looks at a Bible during Mass in 2016 at a Beijing cathedral. As young people move to cities, Catholic grandparents in rural areas are passing on the faith to their grandchildren. (CNS photo/How Hwee Young, EPA)."
However, it wasn't a Bible in the picture. Not only was it too small to be that, the cover was emblazoned in gold Traditional Characters, "聖教日課." I recognized it immediately as I have two at home.
I remembered I had been wanting to blog about this book for some time.
This book, in simplified Chinese 圣教日课 Shèng jiào rì kè, is actually a prayer and catechetical book found with the blue cover everywhere in Catholic Beijing (I've seen elsewhere red covers and black ones, too). Of course, I wouldn't expect anyone not involved with the Chinese Catholic Church to recognize it, but I was hoping that someone associated with America might have at the least some passing familiarity with this little volume. The 圣教日课 exists because of the Jesuits who first came to China more than 400 years ago. Jesuits!
Among the first Jesuits who established themselves in China was a Sicilian priest named Nicolò Longobardo (sometimes also written as Nicholas Longobardi). His Chinese name was 龙华民 Lónghuá mín, which, curiously, means Dragon Chinese-People. Fr. Longobardo in 1602 compiled the earliest version of today's 圣教日课. He wanted to provide the new Chinese Catholics instruction about prayer and doctrine, and he used the books of Bl. Luis de Granada as a guide. The Latin title for his book was Exercitium quotidianum variarum precum.
In 1655 JESUITS Ferdinand Verbiest (南懷仁 Nán huáirén) and Lodovico Buglio (利类思 Lì lèi sī) revised Longobardo's 圣教日课. Today's version follows a format similar to that of the 1655 edition. This website provides a good overview about the history of Catholic prayers in Chinese, with some focus on 圣教日课.
My own copy of 圣教日课 is not nearly as marked up as my hymnal (as seen in a video this post). The hymnal has plenty of room for me to scribble pronunciation notes. The 圣教日课 is much too small for all my notes. When I do use 圣教日课, I usually refer to it to find a particular prayer, then search for the text online so I can make my own copy to include the pinyin. Like this prayer, 已领圣体祝文 Yǐ lǐng shèngtǐ zhù wén, meaning something like "having received the Eucharist."
This chant, can be heard early in the video found here. I used my little blue prayer book to come up with my own cheat sheet.
我谢天主，我感天主。Wǒ xiè tiānzhǔ, wǒ gǎn tiānzhǔ今日临我胸中，比死后援我升天，Jīnrì lín wǒ xiōngzhōng, bǐ sǐ hòuyuán wǒ shēngtiān...(I thank God, I thank GodToday in my chest, then after death help me to ascend to Heaven....)
The 圣教日课 also has the Order of the Mass.
This section about the rosary is a much more recent addition than the original 17th century book. It begins with mentioning the Apostolic Letter by Pope John Paul II dated 16 October, 2002.
This book is not just a prayer book but also contains catechesis. This page begins with a discussion of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The 圣教日课 is more than 400 pages long. It is an incredible handbook for Chinese Catholicism, and at this point I have scarcely scratched the surface. It is a credit to those brave Jesuits that millions of souls in China still rely on their book to this day.
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