天主教

Coined by Matteo Ricci in the first decade of the 17th century.

天主教

1. Catholicism

   東儀天主教／东仪天主教  ―  Dōng Yí Tiānzhǔjiào  ―  Eastern Catholic Churches

   他改信天主教了。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Tā gǎixìn Tiānzhǔjiào le. [Pinyin]

   He converted to Catholicism.

   • 1607, 利瑪竇 [Matteo Ricci], “譯幾何原本引”, in 徐光啟, 利瑪竇, transl., 幾何原本, page 3:

     以余所聞，吾西國千六百年前，天主教未大行，列國多相并兼，其間英士，有能以羸少之卒，當十倍之師，守孤危之城，禦水陸之攻，如中夏所稱公輸、墨翟九攻九拒者，時時有之。彼操何術以然？熟於幾何之學而已。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     以余所闻，吾西国千六百年前，天主教未大行，列国多相并兼，其间英士，有能以羸少之卒，当十倍之师，守孤危之城，御水陆之攻，如中夏所称公输、墨翟九攻九拒者，时时有之。彼操何术以然？熟于几何之学而已。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Yǐ yú suǒ wén, wú xīguó qiān liù bǎi nián qián, tiānzhǔjiào wèi dàxíng, lièguó duō xiàng bìngjiān, qíjiān yīngshì, yǒu néng yǐ léi shào zhī zú, dāng shí bèi zhī shī, shǒu gūwēi zhī chéng, yù shuǐlù zhī gōng, rú Zhōngxià suǒ chēng Gōngshū, Mò Zhái jiǔ gōng jiǔ jù zhě, shíshí yǒu zhī. Bǐ cāo hé shù yǐ rán? Shú yú jǐhé zhī xué éryǐ. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 1861 [1795], 趙翼, 廿二史劄記, volume 34, page 21:

     大抵歐羅巴諸國，悉奉天主教也。天主耶穌，生於女德亞，即古大秦國也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     大抵欧罗巴诸国，悉奉天主教也。天主耶稣，生于女德亚，即古大秦国也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     Dàdǐ Ōuluóbā zhū guó, xī fèng Tiānzhǔjiào yě. Tiānzhǔ Yēsū, shēng yú Nǚdéyà, jí gǔ Dàqín guó yě. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Prior to the First Opium War, the term 天主教 referred to Christianity as a whole, as Chinese were generally unaware of the existence of Christian denominations other than Catholicism before the introduction of Protestantism to China in the early 19th century. Robert Morrison, one of the earliest Protestant missionaries to China, described in his A Dictionary of the Chinese Language in Three Parts [1822] that "the Christian religion is known by the name 天主教".

As Protestant missionaries in China in the 19th century sought to distance themselves from Catholicism for theological and political reasons, they soon rejected the labels 天主 for God and 天主教 for Protestantism. As a result, the term 天主教 eventually became restricted to Catholicism.

• 公教 (gōngjiào)

天主(てんしゅ) (tenshu, “Cathloic”) + 教(きょう) (kyō, “-ism”)

• IPA^(key): [tẽ̞ɰ̃ɕɨkʲo̞ː]

天(てん)主(しゅ)教(きょう) • (Tenshukyō) 

1. Catholicism

天主教 • (cheonjugyo) (hangeul 천주교)

1. alternative form of 天主敎 (“Catholic Church”)

天主教

1. chữ Hán form of Thiên Chúa giáo (“Catholicism”)