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Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- CHAPTER I XAVIER'S LIFE BEFORE HIS DEPARTURE FOR INDIA
- CHAPTER II FIRST THREE YEARS OF MISSIONARY LIFE IN INDIA
- CHAPTER III LEGENDARY LIFE OF FRANCIS XAVIER
- CHAPTER IV XAVIER'S VISIT TO THE SPICE ISLANDS OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO
- CHAPTER V XAVIER A DIRECTOR OF JESUIT MISSIONS IN THE EAST, AND A ROYAL COMMISSIONER FROM THE KING OF PORTUGAL
- CHAPTER VI XAVIER'S LABOURS IN JAPAN
- CHAPTER VII INTERNAL DISSENSIONS OF THE MISSION IN INDIA
- CHAPTER VIII XAVIER'S ATTEMPT TO REACH CHINA—DEATH AND CHARACTER
- CHAPTER IX THE FAILURE OF ROMISH MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN
CHAPTER VIII - XAVIER'S ATTEMPT TO REACH CHINA—DEATH AND CHARACTER
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- CHAPTER I XAVIER'S LIFE BEFORE HIS DEPARTURE FOR INDIA
- CHAPTER II FIRST THREE YEARS OF MISSIONARY LIFE IN INDIA
- CHAPTER III LEGENDARY LIFE OF FRANCIS XAVIER
- CHAPTER IV XAVIER'S VISIT TO THE SPICE ISLANDS OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO
- CHAPTER V XAVIER A DIRECTOR OF JESUIT MISSIONS IN THE EAST, AND A ROYAL COMMISSIONER FROM THE KING OF PORTUGAL
- CHAPTER VI XAVIER'S LABOURS IN JAPAN
- CHAPTER VII INTERNAL DISSENSIONS OF THE MISSION IN INDIA
- CHAPTER VIII XAVIER'S ATTEMPT TO REACH CHINA—DEATH AND CHARACTER
- CHAPTER IX THE FAILURE OF ROMISH MISSIONS TO THE HEATHEN
Summary
Xavier's voyage to China, and Death
Xavier first conceived the idea, during his residence in Japan, of opening a Mission in China. Having failed, as we have seen, to acquire the Japanese language, he felt, as he tells us, that he could be more useful as a pioneer in a new field, than by remaining in Japan. Besides which, he found that the respect of the Japanese for China was so great, that, if China could be gained, Japan would follow. The Japanese regarded China as the fountain of their arts and of their literature. Xavier incidentally mentions various other circumstances which increased his desire to visit China. Among these, he says that he had ascertained that there were Jews residing in the interiorj and that there was a road from China to Jerusalem.
Xavier's discovery of Jews in China is thus related:—“I met at Malacca with a Portuguese merchant who had recently returned from China. He told me that he had been asked by a grave and honourable Chinese resident in a royal city, whether Christians fed upon swine's flesh. To this the merchant answered that Christians did not refuse; but why was the question asked? The Chinese replied that there was a certain tribe in the interior of China, shut in by mountains, whose customs and manners were widely different from the Chinese, and that they abstained entirely from swine's flesh, and celebrated with solemn observances many festivals.
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- The Missionary Life and Labours of Francis Xavier Taken from his own CorrespondenceWith a Sketch of the General Results of Roman Catholic Missions among the Heathen, pp. 231 - 261Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1862