#nicolas trigault

[silezukuk]

Peter Paul Rubens - Nicolas Trigault in Chinese costume, 1617 / Nicolas Trigault (1577–1628) was a Flemish Jesuit, and a missionary to China. He was also known by his latinised name Trigautius or Trigaultius, and his Chinese name Jīn Nígé (金尼閣). [***] [***]

[silezukuk]

In the 1620s the Jesuit missionary in China Nicolas Trigault became involved in a dispute over the correct Chinese terminology for the Christian God and defended the use of the term Shangdi that had been prohibited in 1625 by the Jesuit Superior General Muzio Vitelleschi. A fellow Jesuit stated that Trigault had become deeply depressed after failing to defend the use of the term and committed suicide in 1628.

[***] Shangdi: The name is the pinyin romanization of two Chinese characters. The first – 上 – means "on" or "above"; the second – 帝 – is the same character used in the name of Huangdi, the Yellow Emperor, and the title huangdi, emperor of China. The name is thus often translated "Celestial Emperor", although the deity likely preceded the title and the emperors of China were named after him in their role as Tianzi, the sons of Heaven [***] *** [Chinese Rites Controversy] ***