CCTV Special on Tāng Ruòwàng, 湯若望
It’s been almost 400 years since young Johann entered the Jesuits out of Cologne, Germany. The passage of time was important to Johann. You see, Johann was one of the Jesuits who helped the Chinese emperors reform their calendar. Fr. Johann Adam Schall von Bell, SJ will forever be known to the Chinese as Tāng Ruòwàng. And if you have any sense of China’s enduring fascination with the cycles of time and reverence for the ebb and flow of the world under the heavens, then you’ll have some appreciation for the news that CCTV has been airing a documentary on the life of our German brother Johann.
In 1611, the very year that Johann entered the novitiate, the Imperial Court in Beijing officially requested the help of the Jesuits in reconciling some inconsistencies in their calendar. While the astronomy and mathematics were certainly complex, the real challenge of the mission was the collaboration of scholars from East and West and the great obstacles of suspicion, mistrust, fear, and prejudice.
Fr. Johann and his collaborators were able to overcome these obstacles but the success of their endeavors brought shame and embarrassment to some and kindled envy and jealousy in others. It’s a fascinating shared history and a real sign that some of the current leadership in Beijing values Jesuit collaboration.
an excerpt from UCAN:
BEIJING (UCAN) – The recent broadcasting over state-run television of a documentary on a 17th-century German missioner has pleasantly surprised mainland Chinese Catholics.
The program was first telecast on March 22 evening on China Central Television (CCTV). It featured Jesuit Father Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1591-1666), who made important contributions to research in science and astronomy in China, and also evangelized on the mainland.
The 36-minute documentary also highlighted how he acted as a bridge in fostering greater understanding between Eastern and Western cultures.
The program, produced by the Jesuit-run Kuangchi Program Service in Taiwan and Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation in Nanjing, mainland China, was replayed in the morning and afternoon of March 23.
News of the screening spread rapidly through Catholic websites, chat rooms and group e-mails and generated excitement among Chinese Catholics, according to sources. Some lay Catholics also watched it online from the CCTV website.
Mary Sun, a Catholic in the northern Hebei province, said she did not know much about Father Schall, known as Tang Ruowang in Chinese, until she watched the program. “I feel proud that our Church had such a great missioner,” she said.
Sun added that the rare screening of a documentary on a religious figure in the communist country, where Christians are a minority, was a positive development. She felt that government could be doing this to ease tensions with the Vatican or affirm the positive contributions of Western missioners.
Read the entire story here.
Read more about Jesuit astronomers at the Qing Court here.
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