Celibacy, Chastity and Self-Cultivation in the Thought of Jesuits and Chinese Catholics in Late Ming and Early Qing China

This article examines Catholic celibacy from the late Ming to early Qing dynasty, revealing how Jesuit missionaries and Chinese Catholics interpreted and advocated for chastity. It highlights how missionaries such as Matteo Ricci and Giulio Aleni connected chastity with the ethical knowledge of self-cultivation and the doctrine of salvation, while adapting it to Chinese culture through Confucian concepts like subduing one’s self. The article also explores the conflicts and integrations of chastity ideals among different intellectual traditions, such as the critiques by Buddhist monk Yunqi Zhuhong and Confucian scholar Xu Dashou, as well as how supporters like Yang Tingyun and Zhu Zongyuan reconciled Christian chastity with Confucian ideals of self-restraint and virtuous conduct.