Diego de Pantoja and (Seven Victories)

       西班牙耶稣会士庞迪我（Diego de Pantoja，1571-1618）是中国与西班牙文化交流史上的奠基人。他于1597年入华并在中国度过了21个春秋，其中仅在北京就生活了17年，成为晚明在北京从事宣教活动时间最长的一位西方传教士。

       庞迪我也像利玛窦一样，着儒服、儒冠，学习汉语，研读中国典籍，遵从中国的礼仪和习俗，并耐心地在中国知识分子当中进行“合儒”“补儒”的工作，就这样庞迪我以一介“西儒”的姿态开始融入中国社会。

       1610年5月11日利玛窦在北京病逝。庞迪我借助与他相熟的中国士大夫的帮助，成功地从万历皇帝那里为利玛窦申请到一块墓地，并为利玛窦举行了隆重的葬礼。庞迪我先后用中文写出《七克》和《天主实义续篇》等。其中，《七克》出版于万历四十二年（1614年），这是一部论述道德修养的伦理之著。庞迪我在《七克》中指出，人性中常常滋生出七种罪恶的意念。这七种罪恶的意念应当克服，这就是《七克》书名的由来。在《七克》中，不难看出庞迪我所受到的中国传统文化的影响。庞迪我写到“人也，爱人者，恕而已。己所不欲，勿施于人。”其语原出于儒家经典，原文出自《论语•卫灵公》：“其恕乎！己所不欲，勿施于人。”

       《七克》的出版得到了徐光启等人欢迎并被一再刊刻，继利玛窦之后，庞迪我又一次架起明末清初西学东渐和中学西传的桥梁。

    Diego de Pantoja (1571-1618), a Spanish Jesuit, was the originator of cultural exchanges between China and Spain. He went to China in 1597, and during his stay of 21 years, he worked in Beijing for 17 years. Diego de Pantoja is best known as the Western missionary who spent the longest time in Beijing in the late Ming Dynasty.

    Like Matteo Ricci, Diego de Pantoja also learned the language, classics, and customs of the Chinese. He also equipped himself with Confucian raiment and cap as a Confucian scholar. Diego de Pantoja patiently “match” and “complement” western thought to Confucianism among Chinese scholars, and integrated into Chinese society as a “western Confucian scholar”.

    Matteo Ricci died in Beijing in May 11, 1610. With the help of a Chinese Scholar-official who knew him well, Diego de Pantoja requesting a burial plot from Wanli Emperor and he was given a decent and honorable burial in China. The Seven Victories and Continuation The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven are two Chinese books written by Diego de Pantoja. The Seven Victories, also known as Seven Virtues against Seven Vices was published in Wanli forty-two years (1614), which is an ethical book on moral cultivation. In the book, Diego de Pantoja pointed out that the evil in human nature can be shown through seven vices.

    The seven vices should be overcome, which is the origin of the book title. In The Seven Victories, Diego de Pantoja’s ideas was deeply influenced by Chinese culture. For instance,

“Be kind to others it will pay off. What you do not want done to yourself， do not do to others”. It is quoted from Confucian Classics, and the original words are “Is not RECIPROCITY such a word？ What you do not want done to yourself， do not do to others.”(Confucian Analects, Book XV: Wei Ling Kung: 23)

    The book Seven Victories was re-published several times， which has been supported by many Chinese scholars including Xu Guangqi. After Matteo Ricci in Sixteenth-Century China, Diego de Pantoja also worked for cultural exchange in the attempt at mutual comprehension between China and the West from the late Ming to the early Qing Dynasty.

“文化互译，沟通世界”