The Yangchow Latin Tombstone as a Landmark of Medieval

Transcription

Harvard-Yenching Institute
The Yangchow Latin Tombstone as a Landmark of Medieval Christianity in China
Author(s): Francis A. Rouleau
Source: Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 17, No. 3/4 (Dec., 1954), pp. 346-365
Published by: Harvard-Yenching Institute
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THE YANGCHOW LATIN TOMBSTONE
AS A LANDMARK OF
MEDIEVAL
CHRISTIANITY
IN CHINA
FRANCISA. ROULEAU, S. J.
BELLARMINE
BAGUIO,
COLLEGE
PHILIPPINE
ISLANDS
Studentsof relationsbetweenmedievalEurope and the Orient
have been keenlyinterestedin the recentdiscoveryin China of a
Christiantombstonerecordingin Latin the date of the decease:
June,1342. This is by farthe earliestRoman Catholicmonument
yet foundin China. The discoveryhas been announcedin several
publications;I shall presenthere the firstfull descriptionand
historicaldiscussionof the monument.'
It was foundin Kiangsu provinceat Yangchow,mentionedin
medievaltravelreportsas one ofthechiefcommercialand administrativecentersof the empirethenknownto Europeans as Cathay.
Marco POLo himself,barelymorethan a half-century
beforethe
year inscribedon the tombstone,held an officialpost therein the
governmentof the rulingMongols.
1 Certain of my conclusionsare tentative. My work on various problemsconnected
withthe monumentwas interrupted
by the transferof the InternationalJesuitSeminary
fromShanghai to the Philippines,where it is now known as BellarmineCollege. At
Baguio I lack not only Zikawei's Chinese librarybut also my own documentarycollections on missionhistory,which had to be left behind. Due to the interestof the
scholarly and ecclesiastical worlds in the subject, on which little more than bare
announcementshave appeared in print,I judge it advisable to publish the material
in its presentformratherthan wait for furtherresearchopportunities.
The discoveryof the tombstonehas been publicizedpreviouslyas follows: Giovanni
BONARDI, " Un documento archeologicocristiano del secolo XIV scoperto in Cilia,"
L'OsservatoreRom-ano,Citth del Vaticano, 26 April 1952, p. 3; translationof the foregoingin a Frencheditionof the same newspaper,16 May 1952, underthe title " Decouverte en Chine d'un document archeologique chretiendu XIV'eme siecle; " Fr. Dr.
Martinien RONCOGLIA, 0. F. M., " Rcente decouverte en Chine d'un document
archeologiquechretiendu XIVeme siecle," Neue Zeitschriftfir Missionswissenschaft,
Beckenried,Schweiz (Suisse), VIII (Schoneck, 1952), fasc. 14, p. 293; Francis A.
ROULEAU, " La piii antica Madonna cinese," L'Osservatore Romano, 23 July 1953,
p. 3; The Register,Denver, Colorado, 6 September 1953, p. 3; and John FoSTER,
" Crosses fromthe Walls of Zaitun," JRAS, 1954, Parts 1 & 2, pp. 1-25 (cf. p. 11).
346
THE YANGCHOWV
LATIN TOMBST'ONE
347
Though forantiquityit can hardlybe comparedto the famous
Nestoriantablet of 781 (dug up near Hsi-an about 1625), this
beautifullychiselledold gravestoneis one of the most impressive
remainsof pre-modernChristianityin the Middle Kingdom. Its
mortuaryinscriptionin classic Old Gothic scriptand its graphic
illustrationsfromthe Christianlegendariumwere probably designed,possiblyeven carved, by Franciscan friarsin Yangehow
at the time. Here we have, then,not merelythe preciserecordof
a European Christiangrave in China of the Middle Ages, but a
monumentthat evokes the whole epic of Franciscanmissionary
enterprisein that period.
Until now we have had no certainrelicfromthe heroicapostolate of thosepioneerheraldsof Roman Christianityin the China
of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). All they have left us are a
fewbriefletters,and severallongertravelnarrativeshighlyprized
fortheirethnographicalobservationsbut supplyingscant detail
on the innerlifeand workingsofthe new Chinese-RomanCatholic
Churchitself.
At any rate we knowthat,followingthe trailblazed to the seat
of the great Mongolian empire by Giovanni DA MONTECORVINO
(1294), forthe betterpart of a centurythese peregrinantes
pro
Christowerecreatingsizeable Catholiccommunitiesin citieslike
the capital Daidu (Peking)2 and Zaytun (Ch'iian-chou). Along
with the spiritualgenius of the friarsthemselves,their success
was made possible partly by the tolerance and largesse of an
imperialadministrationwhich was itselfforeign.Like the Nestorian Christiansof the same age, the BrothersMinor sent out
by Rome had come and prosperedunderthe " open door" policy
of China's barbarianmastersfromthe north.
In the end this seeminggood fortuneturnedout to be an element of weakness. With the swiftcollapse of Mongolian world
power and the freshupsurgeof Chinesenationalismin the fourteenthcentury,the fledglingChurchwas caught up in the maelstromthat swept the invadersfromthe Dragon Throine.That
Church was composed in major part, it seems, of non-Chinese
2
Mongolian Daidu = Chinese Tai-tu * t5, oftenireferredto in Westerndocuments
as Cambaluc or other approximationis
of the Turkish formQan Baliq.
348
FRANCIS A. ROULEAU
ethnic groups and "displaced persons" settled in Chiniaunder
the protectionof the Mongols. The national uprisingstruckat
everything
foreignor linkedin any way to the alien regime.When
old Emperor Toyan Temuirstole out of his doomed capital on
September10, 1368, the FranciscanMission as well as the Nestoriansect was bound to share sooneror later in the tragedyof
its formerpatrons. It had not drivenits rootsdeeplyenoughinto
Chinesesoil.
What happened to the last friars,theirmonasticcenters,and
the congregationsthey had fatheredand cared for,we do not
know. Rome's firstmissionin the Far East vanishedcompletely,
leaving behind no discernibleinfluenceon the Chinese religious
mind and no knownmaterialtrace.3
And now,aftersix centuries,this long-buriedmedieval Church
has thrustup fromthe earth one of its evidentialrecords. The
" pilgrims" who toiled in a land so strangeto them
brown-robed
take on lifeagain as we contemplatea graphictestimonyof their
faithand an exquisiteexampleof theirhandiwork.
DISCOVERY
OF THE TOMBSTONE
Situatedsometwentymilesabove theYangtze fromChinkiang,
Yangchowis themain southerngatewayofthe old ImperialCanal
linkingnorth and central China. During its long historythis
strategicallyimportantcity has had a successionof protecting
enclosures.To speak only of (forChina) moderntimes,the tach'eng or " great walled city" was constructedin 1175, rebuilt
in 1357,and in 1557 considerablyexpanded. Hence modernYangchow,as I have knownit by many visits,containedsome of the
hoarybattlementsof the fourteenth
century,as well as the " new
wall" of two centurieslater.4
3 Several small objects, notably a medieval manuscriptBible found in China by the
early Jesuitsand now preservedin the Biblioteca Laurenziana, Firenze, seem to date
fromthis period,but theirconnectionwith the Franciscan Church itselfhas not been
proved. On these objects see P. Pasquale M. D'ELIA, S. J., Fonti Ricciane, Vol. I
(Roma, 1942), pp. LXXIII-LXXIV.
ilz 4J IIg, (the local
'Cf. Henri CORDIER'Snotes from the Yang-chou-fuchih
gazetteer) in his revised edition of Sir Henry YULE'S Cathay and the Way Thither,
Volume II (London, 1913), p. 210. CORDIER used the same edition of the gazetteer
as the one we had at Zikawei; it contains two plans of medieval Yangehow.
THE YANGCHOWLATIN TOMBSTONE
349
Several years ago the new Communistgovernmentdecided to
demolishthese ancient rampartsand use the material for road
construction.While workmenwere levelling the moss-covered
masonrynear the South Gate in November,1951, theirpick-axes
turnedup theLatin tombstoneof 1342,whichhad been embedded
in the base of the structure.Curiositywas arousedby the stone's
pictorialdecorationand by the strangeGothic script. Cleaned
the monumentwas handedover to the muniof its encrustations,
cipal authoritieswho confidedit to a " culturalobjects committee " forsafekeeping.
Happily a local Chinese gentlemaninterestedin antiquities
chanced to learn of the find. On viewingthe slab he instantly
sensedits archeologicalvalue and had an excellentrubbingmade.
but correctly
Unable himselfto make anythingof the inscription,
judgingthe decorationto be of Christianorigin,the collectortook
his rubbingto the centralresidenceof the Roman Catholic Mission in Yangchow,in the chargeof the Jesuits,and asked one of
the Chinese fathersthereto translateand explain its contents.5
In returnforthis exegesisthe antiquarianpresentedthe rubbingt
to the Father,who in turnpassed i-ton to me at the International
Jesuit Seminary,Zikawei, Shanghai, for study in connection
with our department'sresearchwork in the sources of China
Missionhistory.I had a miniaturefacsimileof it made in March,
1952 (see Plate I), and sent a numberof printsof the facsimile
out of China to make surethat evidenceof the historicaltreasure
would be kept safe, should the fragilerubbingbe damaged or
confiscated.6FortunatelyI was able to get the originalsafely
out whenwe wereforcedto leave China later that summer.
However, my colleagues and I began our quest for detailed
informationon the monumentand its backgroundimmediately
upon the initial receiptof the rubbingat Zikawei. We needed
to know the circumstancesand preciselocationof the discovery,
5 At this time the foreignmissionpersonnlelof Yangchow were being held in prison
at Shanghai, later to be expelled. Meanwhile tw-oChinese Jesuit Fathers were in
charge of the YangchowvCatholic church.
'A recipientof the facsimilereportedit to a Rome news service,which resultedin
of the Latin text) appearthe briefand inaccuratenotice (e. g., imperfecttranscription
ing in the firstthreepublicationslisted in note 1.
350
FRANCIS A. ROULEAU
as well as the nature,exact dimensions,and presentconditionof
the stoneitself.Underexistingpoliticalconditions,the tappingof
thisdata presenteda delicateproblem.Restrictionson the travel
and activitiesof foreignersfromcountriesnot politicallyallied
withCommunistChina,and particularlyon thoseof missionaries,
made it out of the question forany of us to revisitYangchow.
Nor did it seem possible, without creatingembarrassmentfor
them, to ask one of the few Chinese Fathers there to make
inquiriesforus.
The only courseof actionleftwas to tryto make contactwith
theYangchowantiquarianthroughwhomwe came to knowofthe
discoveryand to receive the rubbing. A lengthyquestionnaire
was preparedand mailed to him; several monthspassed before
any answercame, but whenit did reach us we werebriefedwith
at least the main points of the case. (Understandablyenough,
he sentno photographs.)
As mentionedabove, Yangchowwas rebuiltin 1357 and again,
moreextensively,exactlytwo centurieslater. The sectionof the
wall near the South Gate, fromthe base of whichthe tombstone
was extracted,belongsto the earlierof thesetwo reconstructions.
This meansthat onlyfifteen
yearsafterthe burialof " Katerina,"
the Christiannamed in the graverecord,the publicmonumentto
her name, familyand religionwas locked up in the depths of a
vast vault of its own.
When the demolitioncrewcame across the incisedslab nearly
six centurieslater it was lyingin a horizontalposition,with the
two extremitiesalready broken off. Because of its recumbent
posturewhendug out of the base of the wall, our informantwas
of the opinionthat the tombstoneprobablywas not in situ-that
is, markingthe grave of the deceased-as would be the case had
the massive city wall passed directlyover the spot, obliterating
both grave and gravestone.It is more likelythat when this part
of the wall was beingconstructed,the tablet was displaced from
an adjacent burial plot to be used as a heavy solid supportfor
the brickmasonry.7
'This reasoningis backed by evidence that there was a general displacementof
tombstones-at least of "heterodox" tombstones-in the neighborhoodwhen the
351
However,I am not preparedto excludethe possibilitythat the
Latin monumentmay have been foundon the spot whereit was
originallyset up. Finding a graniteblock in the planned alignment of the wall, the buildersmay simplyhave pushed it over
on its broad back and piled up theirbrickand mortarover and
around it. The questionhas slightimportance,exceptinsofaras
it relatesto futureexcavation,should this ever become possible.
Just outside the South Gate is a districtcalled Kuan-i-ch'ien
I91-IJ? whichwas the residentialquarter assignedto foreigners
in Yangchow underthe Yuan dynasty. If this is not the locality
where" Katerina" was buried,at any rate it may wellhave been
the neighborhoodwhereshe and her familyresided. For the historianof the Christianmissionsof the period,this topographical
detail has a moreabsorbingsignificance
still. The foreignquarter
of Kuan-i-ch'ienin all probabilitywas the zone wherethe first
Franciscanfriarserectedtheirmonasticchurchand groupedmost
of theirCatholic community.8If so, the familyof " Katerina"
must have belongedto this religioussettlement;or at any rate,
whoevrer
must have belongedto this religioussettlement;or at
any rate, whoeverset up her tombstone-ifit was not the friars
themselves-was almost certainlyin close association with the
European missionariesthere.
DESCRIPTION
OF THE MONUMENT
The faceofthe tombstoneis shownrealistically,
thoughreduced
in size, in Plate IT whichreproducesa photostatof the original
wall was built. In 19927fourMohammedan tombstonesabout the size of the present
Latin one were found encrustedtogetherin the wall's foundation,fixed there in a
mannerwhich leaves little doubt that they had been moved and used as base blocks.
They were dug up when the Old South Gate was torn down to make way for a more
conveniententranceto the city, and are now preservedin the Mohammedan temple
. The Arabic inscriptionsgive the names and ages of the
Ch'ing-chenT'ang pi4
deceased, togetherwith verses fromthe Koran.
'Fra Odorico DA PORDENONE mentionsa house of his own Franciscan order which
he visited when he passed throughYangchow (with an Irishman,BrotherJames) on
his way to Daidu about 1322: " Dum per istud flumenDotaly [Yangtze] transirem
sic inveni multas civitates,et veni ad unam que vocatur Jamcai [Yangchow],in qua
est unus locus nostrorumfratrumMinorum. In hac etiamnsunt tres ecclesiae nestorinorum. Hec civitas nobilis est et magna."-P. Anastasius VAN DEN WYNGAERT, OFM,
Sinica Franciscana,Vol. I (Quaracchi-Firenze,19929),p. 469.
352
FLANCIS A. ROULEAU
the entiresurface. In otherwords the inrubbing,representing
cised designis perfectlycoincidentwith the size and outlinesof
the monumentitself,ratherthan a decorationof part of a larger
slab. Thus it is easy to determinethe appearance and surface
of the materialrelicitself.
measurements
The YangchowLatin tombstoneof 1342 is an oblong block of
some stone,probablymarble,roundedat the shouldersand then
risingin a gracefularch over the portrayalof the Madonna and
Child, as thoughthis image wereintendedto have its settingin
a niche,somewhatlike an arcosoliumof the Roman catacombs.
The top segmentof this arch has been brokenoff,but the fission,
singularlyenough,followsthe uppercurveof theVirgin'shalo and
leaves intacteveryfeatureof the fineMadonna representation.A
largerand rougherfracturemutilatesthe stone'slowerextremity,
but enoughof the last line of the Latin inscriptionremainsto
make it readilylegible.
Measured fromthe topmosttip (nimbusof the Madonna) to
the lowestremainingincisionat the bottom,the tombstonein its
long; fromside to side
centimeters
presentconditionis fifty-eight
it measuresforty-seven
and one-halfcentimeters.Mentally extendingthe ornamentaledging (fivecentimerswide) beyondthe
of the whole manias faras the symmetry
fracturedextremities,
festlyrequires,we arrive at about seventy centimetersas the
heightof the tombstonebeforeit was damaged. Our Chinese
correspondentat Yangchow reported its thickness as " 4.75
inches" (twelvecentimeters),adding that the reversesurfaceis
withoutdecorationor inscription.9
Three elementsmake up the graphiccontentof the frontsurthe religiousillustrations,
and the
face: the mortuaryinscription,
ornamentalborderenclosingthe whole.
'From his report in Chinese it is not altogetherclear whetherthe correspondent
meant to give the measurementin Chinese inches (in which case the thicknessof the
stone would be fourteenand one-halfcentimeters)or in the more common English
scale. I have adopted the latter as the one probably intended, because Chinese
to feet and inches.
students today generallymean this when referring
353
THE YANGCHOW LATIN TOMBSTONE
The Latin Inscription
Exquisitelychiseledin symmetricalGothic lettersthreecentimetershigh,the commemorative
legendrunsthroughfivelines,all
regularin lengthand design. Its total heightis twenty-four
centimeters,its width twenty-eight
centimeters.With the exception
of the initial" IN," each of the successivewordsin a line is set
offby an incisedpoint;a crossbeginsthe noticeand a secondone
ends it. The slim,sprightlyshape of the lettersbringsto mind
some treasuredold manuscriptBible. They read as follows:
[Transcription]
+ INNOMINE
KATERINA
DNICI
DE
- DNI
FILIA
VILIONIS
AMEN -HIC*
QONDA1M
JACET
DOMINI
- QUE - OBIIT - IN
- MILLEXIMO
ANNO * DOMINI
Q
O
X X X X - II - DE - MENSE
* c c c
- JUNII +
[Translation]
+
IN THE NAME OF THE LORD AMEN HERE LIES
CATHERINE DAUGHTER OF THE LATE SIR
DOMINIC
DE VIGLIONE [SHE] WHO DIED IN
THE YEAR OF THE LORD ONE THOUSAND ThIREE HITNDRED
FORTY-TWO IN THE MONTH OF JUNE
A
cat-chesthe eye in the space to
A Chineseseal-scriptinscription
the leftof the Latin script. Its fourcharactersare, in theirstandard form,JML4iN (Yin-wei huo kuan): " Yin-wei ob-ained
[the opportunity(or the pleasure) of] seeing [this]." Obviously
to theinterment,
but werewritthesecharactershave no reference
10 The Italian versionused here for the familyname is explainedbelow under " The
Problem of the 'DE VILIONIS.'" It is possible, though unlikely, that quondam
(QONDAM), translated as " the late," was initendedto modify filia rather than
referringto the father; i. e., " Catherine, late (once) daughter of Sir Dominic DE
in more familiarspellingwith punctuation,the Latin reads: " In
VIGLIONE." NVritten
Nomine Domini. Amen. Hic jacet Katerina,filiaquondam Domini Dominicide Vilionis,
quae obiit in anno Domini millesimotrecentesimoquadragesimo secundo, de mense
Junii."
354
FRANCIS A. ROULEAU
ten by a person calling himselfYin-wei who, afterviewingthe
text for the inscription,wished to leave with it the permanent
impressof his interestor admiration.
The St. CatherineIconography
the name
To anyone familiarwith the Christianmartyrology,
"Katerina " readilygives the key to the curioustableaux delineated acrossthecentralportionofthe tombstonedirectlyabove the
inscription(see Plate III). They representincidentsfromthe
passion of St. Catherineof Alexandria,the patron saint of the
deceased. The architectof the memorialthoughtit fittingto
commemoratethis spiritualaffinity
and to perpetuatethe hope
"
of a blessedintercession
for Katerina DE VILIONIS."
St. Catherinewas a noble and highlyculturedyoungwomanof
the great Graeco-Egyptiancity,whichremainedthe intellectual
capital oftheHellenisticworldunderRomandomination.Brought
up as a Christian,she suffereddeath for her faith duringthe
reignof the persecutorMaximinusDaia (308-313 A. D.), whose
tetrarchyextendedover Syria and Egypt. The Roman liturgy
celebratesher feaston November9-5.
Accordingto the Acta (in major part legendary) of her martyrdom,the precocious Catherinewas pitted in public debate
againstthe shrewdestpagan philosophersofthe cityin thehope of
persuading her from the Christian religion. Having, on the
contrary,confoundedthese professionalsby her logic, she was
summarilysentencedto death by torture.She was strappedto a
systemof heavy wheels spiked with blades which,in revolving,
would slash the virginbody to shreds. It so happened,however,
that afterCatherinekneltfora momentin prayer,this awesome
mnachine(whencethe " Catherinewheels" of heraldry,fenestration, and pyrotechnics)was shatteredas by a thunderbolt.An
executionerthenstruckoffthegirl'shead,thusinsuringforherthe
crownof martyrdom.Angels gatheredup the body and transportedit to Mount Sinai in Arabia.
Three momentsfromthe saint's passion are visualizedon the
Yangchowtombstone.In thefirst,Catherineis kneelingin prayer
while the torturewheels are miraculouslydestroyed. Two men
355
are sprawledon the ground,one on his back withlimbsoutspread,
the otherprone with his leftleg drawn up. Evidently they are
the operatorsof the infernalmachine,struckdown,if not killed,
by its collapse. Next is shown the beheading;Catherinekneels
with hands folded in prayer while the headsman, an empty
scabbard in his left hand, swings the sword behind her. The
thirdscene shows two angels loweringthe martyr'sbody into a
preparedtomb,doubtlessintendedto be on Mount Sinai.
The pictorialtextureof these vignettesis almostpurelyEuropean; theymighteasilyhave been copiedfromone of the popular
illustratedmedieval hagiographies.The virgin'shead is adorned
and encircledwiththehalo ofsaintwiththe crownofmartyrdom
hood. One conventionis particularly
strikingwhenone remembers
that these pictureswerechiseledin China not Europe: the saint
is shownalmostentirelydisrobed. Plainly no attemptwas made
to adapt Westernrealismto Chinesecanons of artisticpropriety.
European, such as the
Many otherdetails are characteristically
swordsman'sshoes,leggings,tunic,and headgear.
However,one can easily discernpeculiaritiesthat betraya tendency to representthe native physiognomy.Some of the facial
lineamentshave a definiteorientaltouch. The moststrikingmixtureofEastern and Westerniconographicconventionis the treatment of the two angels, firstshown in the left-handcorner
contemplatingthe bloody spectacle of martyrdombelow them,
and again on the rightwheretheyappear in the act of lowering,
the saint's body into its sepulchre.These wingedfigureshave no
feet,theirlegs taperingoffto a point and lookingsomewhatas if
they were enclosed in loose, flappingpillow-cases. Students of
Chinese art will recognizehere a standard characteristicof the
treatmentofspiritforms.
The Monk and the Babe
To the rightof the executionscene therekneels an old man
holdinga naked infantin his upliftedhands. Many who have
inspectedthe rubbingwerepuzzled by these figures.As forthe
infant,there is nothingreally enigmaticabout it; nor does it
indicate,as some have thought,that the deceased " Katerina"
356
FRANCIS A. ROULEAU
was a mere babe, representedhere in the arms of its bereaved
father.What we have hereis a commonplaceof religioussymbolism,oftenfoundon earlyChristianfunerary
tabletsand paintings.
In its innocentnakednessthe infantsymbolizesthe immortalsoul
of the deceased,now offeredback to its Creator.
But who is the man on his knees who offersthe soul to God?
Is he a symbolonly,or does he at the same timerepresentsome
real historicalperson (or groupof persons), as do the picturesof
St. Catherineand the Madonna? Personally,I believe that he
does, and that the humble figurein the cornerplayed a by no
means minor role in the mystery-drama
behind this medieval
Christianrelicunearthedin modernChina.
MIy principalreason is the man's attire,which I take to be
the robesof a monk. The ample foldsof the sleeves,and the way
the open sides of the gownare crossedoverthe breast,leavingthe
neck bare, are at firstglance strikingly
suggestiveof a Buddhist
monk. But, to say nothingof the unlikelihoodof a Buddhist
monkdepictedin a contextof Christianpiety,the heavy,well-cut
European head, with hair brushed back, precludes any such
identity. If monk, he is certainlya Christian one from the
occident.
I am convincedthat we have here the delineationof a Franciscan friar,a representativetype of the " pilgrimsfor Christ"
establishedat Yangchow. One naturallyassumesthat" Katerina"
and the restof her familywereparishionersof the local church,
and underthe spiritualcare of the pastoralbody there. Like the
BrothersMinorshe was ofEuropean stock,at least on herfather's
side, and fromhim-as we shall see-inherited the Italian language nativeto mostoftheFranciscansthenin China. Doubtless
she also inheritedfromthisEuropean " gentleman" (dominus) a
certainamount of more materialgoods, in which case we may
assume that she became a benefactressof the Fathers and their
mission.11In any event it must have been the friarswho minis"At about the same time a foreignwoman was donatingher wealth to Franciscan
churchbuildingat Ch'iian-chou,as mentionedin a letterfromthat city dated January,
13926,by Fra Andrea DA PERTUGIA, thirdBishop of "Zayton." YULE's version (op. cit.,
III, 72) reads: "There is a great city on the shores of the Ocean Sea, which is
called in the Persian tongue Zayton; and in this city a rich Armenianlady did build
THE YANGCHOW' LATIN TOMBSTONE
357
tered to " Katerina " on her deathbed,and who consignedher
mortalremainsto the grave. In a veryreal sense,then,theycould
be said to have offeredher soul to God, and it would be by no
means presumptuousto signifythe factin the unobtrusivefigure
holdingthe soul-infantin his upliftedhands. The discoveryof
his presencetherecenturieslater leads me to regardthe Yangchow tombstoneas a graphictestimonynot merelyto an isolated
episode of Christianlife,but to a period of collectivemissionary
endeavorin greatpart lost to us.
The Madonna of Yangchow
The Madonna and Child crowningthe memorial,and shownin
Plate IV, must now rank as the oldest knownexampleof Marial
art executed in China. Hithertothe primacyof age had been
creditedto a paintingon silk by an unknownartistaround the
beginningof the seventeenthcentury. Berthold LAUFER discoveredthe latter at Hsi-an in 1910 and placed it in the Field
Museum (now the ChicagoMuseum of Natural History). It was
subsequentlyidentifiedas a copy, in Chinese style,of the celebrated " Salus Populi Romani " (traditionallyattributedto St.
Luke the Evangelist) whichformany centurieshas been venerated in the Basilica of S. Maria Maggiore in Rome.12From internalanalysisDr. LAUFER and otherstudentsdate the copy from
the Wan-li period (1573-1620) and regardit as almost certainly
the workof a Chinese. It is believedthat the modelwas, in turn,
a copy of the S. Maria Maggiore image broughtto China by
Father Matteo Ricci or one of his Jesuitassociates who were
a large and fineenough church,which was erectedinto a cathedralby the Archbishop
himself[Giovanni da Montecorvino]of his own freewill. The lady assigned it with a
competentendowmentwhich she provided duringher life and secured by will at her
death, to Friar Gerard the Bishop, and the friarswho were with him, and he became
accordinglythe firstoccupant of the cathedral."
12 A full description,
with photograph,of the paintingnow in Chicago was published
in L'Illustrazione Vaticana, Citth del Vaticano, for 1 January19392,by Father William
McGoLDRIcK of the Columban Mission in China. For furtherhistoricalstudy on it,
cf. Pasquale M. D'ELIA, S. J., Le originidell'Artecristianacinese (1583-1650) (Reale
Academia d'Italia, Roma, 1939), pp. 48-592.For a brieferaccount,cf. the same author's
"La Madonna di S. Maria Maggiore in Cina," Ecclesia (Roma), 9(1950).30-32.
3o58
FRANCIS A. ROULEAU
openingup the modernera of Christianmissionsthere in the
decades of the decliningMing dynasty. If this datingis correct,
the " Franciscan Madonna " of Yangchow still antedates the
"Jesuit Madonna" of Hsi-an by more than two and a half
centuries."3
At least one scholarhas put forththehypothesisthattheHsi-an
paintingwas executedbeforethe arrival of the Jesuitsand the
modernage ofEuropeanintercourse.14
Since themodelforit must
have come fromEurope, it would followthat this model could
have been no otherthan a copy of the " St. Luke" Virginand
Child broughtto China by the Franciscansin the fourteenth
century,and somehowor otherpreservedaftertheyand theirmission
had disappeared.
A close resemblancebetweenthe Yangchow Madonna and the
Salus Populi Romani wouldlend considerableweightto thisview;
at least it would prove one of its premises,namely that the
medievalFranciscanshad in factbroughta copy of the S. Maria
Maggiore Virginand Child to China and had made it available
foradaptations.
However,comparisonof the tombstonerepresentation
with a
photographof the S. Maria Maggioreimage,or withthe Chinese
versionof it, revealssuch notable differences
that we can be certain the Yangchow designerused some othermodel. It remains
forspecialistsin medievalreligiouspaintingto determine
theexact
European original.
"Indeed, the discoveryof the Yangehow tombstoneof 13492dictates revisionof a
generalstatementby LAUFER: " The appearance of European art worksin China, and
the beginningof their influenice
on Chinese art, date from the end of the sixteenth
century,duringthe close of the Ming dynasty,and may be generallyand well marked
by the year 1583, the date of the arrival in China of the great JesuitMatteo Ricci."
(Cf. his " ChristianArt in China," MSOS 13[1910]1.100-118,
p. 100, second paragraph.)
It probably is true that Christianimportationsin the Yuan period had little if any
influenceon Chinese artists. It is not certainthat even the stonecutterforthe tombstone was Chinese,thoughit is highlyprobable.
Cf. Dr. Sepp SCHULLERP, " Die ' ChinesischeMadonna,' der bedeutendsteFund aus
der ersten Missionsperiodein China" in Die Katholischen Missionen (Bonn, 1936),
pp. 177-183. In a criticismof this opinionFather D'ELIA quotes froma Jesuithistorian
of 1640 to show that St. Francis BORGIA, General of the Jesuitsfrom1565-1572,was
the firstpersonwho receivedpermissionfromthe Holy See to have copies made of the
S. Maria Maggiore Madonna; cf. Le origini. . . (cited in note 12), p. 40, note 2.
The authorityinvoked is not conclusive.
14
359
In olneparticularthe iconographofthe Madonna,liketherepresentationsof the angels,showsan adjustmentto Chinesemotifs,
in this case an assimilationof the local scene ratherthan of the
native imagination. The Virginis shown seated on a circular
chair or low table, typicallyChinese in style and workmanship.
To whomshouldthisbe credited?It may be that the Franciscan
missionaryartistshad alreadyborrowedfromtheirnew environment when preparingdevotionalpicturesforthe instructionof
theirneophytesor the decorationof their churches. If so the
tombstonedelineationof the Madonna and Child could have
been a literal copyingof a ready-madesketch supplied to the
stonecutter.
Who was this stonecutter?In most of the religiousordersof
the time some of the brethrendedicated themselvesto various
craftsforthe ennoblingof liturgicalservices. It is certainlypossible that one of the local friarsactuallychiseledthe patterninto
the block. However,thereare reasonsto doubt this. As already
observed,the engraverput into the characteristically
European
outlinesof the figuressmall facial contoursthat are definitely
Asian. Further,in some of the formsthereis a certainlack of
perspective,as in the circularchair of the Madonna and in the
lines of the Mount Sinai sepulchre. It must be taken into considerationthat even in Westernpictorialart,scientific
perspective
was not yet receivingthe amount of emphasisit later acquired;
but the treatmenthere strikesone as non-European.These particularitiesmay well be the productof a local craftsmanengaged
forthe work.
The Madonna and Childare shownfull-scalein Plate IV (detail
of Plate II); the heightof the pictureis thirteencentimeters,
measuredfromthe crestof the nimbusto the bottomofthe front
leg of the platformon whichthe Virginis seated.
Finally,a thirdelementof art on the tombstonesurfaceis the
ornamentalfloralmotif,fivecentimeterswide,whichfollowsthe
entireouter limitsof the monumentand servesto enclose both
inscriptionand iconography. It is a conventionalizedpattern
suggestiveof many otherold Chinesemotifs-anotherreasonfor
supposingthat the actual carvingwas done by a Chinese.
360
FRANCIS A. ROULEAU
THE PROBLEM OF THE "DE
VILIONIS
By no means irrelevant to the larger picture of a vanished era
of European missionary and other intercourse with China is the
problem,interesting
in itself,of the identityof the two forgotten
foreignersin the Middle Kingdom whose names now turn up
perpetuatedin stone. Who were " Dominicus DE VILIONIS " and
his daughter" Katerina" ? From wheredid they come? What
weretheydoingin China?
The presenceof a European gentlemanat Yangchow in the
early fourteenthcentury-other than the Brothers Minor we
know werethere-is not particularlysurprising.One functionof
the far-flung
if short-livedempireforgedby the barbaricgenius
of CinggisQa-yanand his successorswas to effectrelativelysafe
linesofcommunications
betweenEast and West. Missionary,merchant and soldierof fortunewere on the march. The greatmercantilehouses of Europe, chieflythoseof Genoa and Venice,sent
out their agents to the strangepopulous regionsof the East.
From the writingsof il Milione everyoneknowsof the travelsof
thePOLO familyin the late thirteenth
century;scholarsknowthat
in the fourteenthmany otherEuropeans carriedon businessin
the greatmarketsof China.15
From these circumstancesI adopted the workinghypothesis
that the " Dominicus DE VILIONIS " was an Italian merchantor
commercialagent. This hypothesisbecomesa virtualconclusion
withthe supportof a strongclue to the family'sprovenienceobtained forme by one of my colleaguesin the Societyof Jesus,an
old and reveredfriendofmymanyyearsat Zikawei.
In a letterfromRome, dated 21 September1953, Professor
Pasquale M. D'ELIA describeda conversationon the case witha
returnedmissionaryfromKaifeng, Padre Arcangelo FERRO of
15 " The record is a very fragmentary
and imperfectone, but many circutmstances
and incidentalnotices show how frequentlythe Far East was reached by European
tradersin the firsthalf of the fourteenthcentury;a state of thingswhich it is very
difficult
to realize,when we see how all these regions,when occupied only two centuries
later, seemed almost as absolutelynew discoveriesas the empirewhichabout the same
time Cortez and Pizarro were annexingin the west."-YULE-CORDIER, op. cit., I, 170.
Some of these incidentalnotices can be gleaned fromtravel reportsof Franciscan missionaries;e. g., cf. Sinica Franciscana,I, 345-355,367, 375-376, 536.
361
Milan, whose knowledgeof northwestern
Italy enabled him to
supplypertinentfactswhichhe put in writingas follows:
A Sale Langhe(prov.di Cuneo) sullalineaferroviaria
Torino-Savona,
a una
o due stazionidi distanzadal confine
colla Liguria,vi e, propriovicinoalla
stazioneferroviaria
stessa,la borgatadettaai Viglioni.Dal piiuanticocatasto
del 1570sappiamoche esistevanoallorain Sale ancoraalmenodue famiglie
Viglione:una in quellaborgatastessa,Viglione(o Viliomes)Giovanni,e un'
altradi ViglioneBiagio,poco distantedalla prima.Fino alla finedel 1700
questocognome
era scrittoindifferentemente
De Vilionis,
Viliomese Viglione.
Sale, then, is in the general neighborhoodof Genoa; and as
Father D'ELIA points out, we know what hardy travellersthe
Genoeseof that timewere. The pioneerFranciscansmet themin
thetradecentersof Cathay. It is a safeconclusionthatthe father
of" Katerina" belongedto Genoa's seafaringmerchantclass, and
was a native of the hamlet to which his family,by reason of
its wealthand prominencein the countryside,
gave its name.
But this is onlyhalfthe problem. What gives unusual interest
to the case of this gentlemanis the curious circumstancethat
he had a daughterin China. Was she bornthere? If not,how did
he happen to bringher along? How did familylife affectthe
circumstancesof theirresidence?
If we weredealingwithmoderntimeswe could easily suppose
that " Katerina " had accompaniedher fatheron his long travels
to the East. However, even taking into account the Mongol
hegemonyand the safertranscontinental
communicationsit effected,a moment'sreflectionon the enormousdifficulties
and
hardshipsofsea and overlandtravelin thatperiodrendersit quite
improbablethat a gentlemanmerchantwould have taken his
familyor a singledaughteras companionon a journeyto theother
side of the world.
Still, the presencein China of womenfromfar countrieswas
not unknown. From the Itinerariumof William of Rubruck
we know that a certain FrenchwomanfromMetz, Dame PAQUETTE,was at Qara Qorumwhenthe Franciscanarrivedthereon
a diplomatic mission in 1254. In MONTECORVINO'Stime, a half-
centurylater,therewas at Daidu a colonyof CatholicArmenians,
doubtless composed of entire families,who in 1318 erected a
3
362
FRANCIS A. ROULEAU
church where Fra GIOVANNIused to say Mass for them. I have
already mentionedthe rich Armenianbenefactressof Zayton."6
These women evidentlyhad undertakenthe journey East, apparentlywith the intentionof more or less permanentresidence
in China or on its borders.
In the year in which " Katerina" died, and probablyin the
same month (June,1342),17 there arrivedat Daidu a splendid
pontificalmissionsent out to the Qayan by Pope Benedict XII,
then at Avignon. It included the Papal Legate, Giovanni DEI
MARIGNOLLI,
and a numberof friarsdestined for the Cathay
Church. Conceivablytheremightbe a connectionbetweenthis
papal contingentand an Italian's grave. DE VIGLIONE could have
been a laymanattachedto theLegate's entouragein someprofessional capacity,i. e., as legal adviseror physician.
However,it is hardlycrediblethat a woman,even the daughter
ofone of the leadinglay officials,
wouldhave been taken along on
a missioncomposedmainly,if not exclusively,of clericsand religious. Further,the MARIGNOLLI legationfollowedthe northern
overland route to Daidu, which would not have taken them
throughYangchow. The time coincidence,interestingas it is,
does not seem to lead us anywhere.
From the elaborate characterof the mortuarymemorial,and
fromits thoroughlyreligiousinspiration,I am convinced that
" Katerina" was not the infantfruitof a passingliaison such as
occurredoftenenough,no doubt,amongtravellersfarfromhome
life and their normal social and religiousenvironment.In the
presentcase we seem to have a situationof true Christianfamily
life.
Two or threereasonslead me to believethat " Katerina" was
no merechildwhenshe died,but at least adolescentand probably
an adult. The firstis the ornatenessof the memorial,whichsuggests that the deceased had been in a positionof age, deeds, and
meritscommensuratewithits impressiveness.Parental affection
could, of course,inspirea fatherto erect such a monumentto
16 See note11.
Paul PELLIOT, " Chretiens d'Asie centrale et d'Extreme-Orient,"TP 15 (1914).
623-644 (p. 642).
17
363
the mnemory
of a cherishedchild. But the fatherhad precededthe
daughterto the grave;in the absenceof any evidenceto the contrary,we must read filiaquondam Domini Dominici de Vilionis
as " daughterof the late Sir Dominic DE VILIONIS," thoughif we
knewhe was stillalive at the timewe could forcethe construction
to read " late daughter,"etc. (see note 10) . I can see no other
hand than a Franciscanone in the compositionof the fineLatin
inscription(theirmetierpar excellence) and in the designingof
theiconographicdecoration.Further,sincethe fatherwas already
dead, it may well have been the Franciscanswho took it upon
themselvesto erectthe memorialas theirown testimonyto the
womanand herfamily.
The fact that the father'sname is givenon the tombstone,and
the simplicityof its mention,implythat this gentlemanwas well
known at the time, at least among Europeans in China. This
would include both tradersand religious.
All thesecalculationstend towardthe conclusionthat Dominic
of the VIGLIONI was not a passingtravelleron a businesstrip,as
mostof the importand exportmerchantswere,but a visitorwho
had settleddown fora long stay,makinghis home and raisinga
familyin China. His businesscould have taken him back and
forthamong the leading trade centers,but apparentlysuburban
Yangchowwas his headquarters,or at least wherehis familywas
domiciled,in proximityto Churchand European contacts.
It does not necessarilyfollowthatSir Dominichad marriedinto
a Chinese or otherEast Asian family,though such an alliance
wouldsurelyhave beenuseful. In all thechiefcitiesgarrisonedby
Mongolian arms there had gravitatedethnic groups wvhomthe
masters of empire had forciblytransportedthitherfromtheir
conquereddomains to the west-like the Caucasian Alans-and
familiesfromthe Near East that had emigratedin search of
fortuneor security.Some of these " displacedpersons,"like the
of
Armenians,wereof Catholicheritage(e. g., the church-builder
Zaytun). It may have been a marriageablelady of this class, a
residentof the foreignsettlements,
whomSir Dominic had taken
to wife.
364
FRANCIS A. ROULEAU
CONCLUSION
It is problematicalwhetherfurtherresearchcan ever turnup
recordsin Europe or elsewherewhichwill morepreciselyidentify
the personsnamed on the Yangchow tombstone. In any case,
overshadowingthe particularproblemof certainindividualsand
theircareersin medieval China, therelooms the more absorbing
evocationofa vigorousbut largelymysterious
periodofattempted
Roman Catholic evangelizationin Cathay. It began with the
arrivalof MONTECORVINOin 1294 and ended we knownot when,
but probablynot manyyears afterthe fall of the Yuan dynasty
in 1368. The Relatio of MARIGNOLLI,the Papal Legate who left
Daidu in 1345, is the last reliable first-hand
notice we have of
the medievalChina mission.
Anythinglike a numericalcensus of the religiousexpansionit
achievedeludes us entirely.Fra Giovanniis the onlyone to give
definitefiguresof convertsto Catholicism,and these pertainto
the beginnings.Some writersspeak of a communityof thirty
thousand,otherseven of a hundredthousandat thepeak, but this
is mostlyconjecture.The sourcesare fragmentary
and too much
of the inner life of the medieval China mission is still hidden
fromus.
All extantoriginalFranciscansourceson thisepic evangelhave
been broughttogetherin Volume I of the Sinica Franciscana,15
whichwe may call its literarymonument.The Yangchow Latin
tombstoneof 1342 now stands as its sole materialmonument,
sheddingthe debris of centuriesto bear graphicwitnessto the
faithand worksof the vanishedFranciscansof Cathay. It is this
fact,morethan its artisticmeritor the personaldrama it records,
thatmakesthismedievaltombstonea relicofrareimportance.
Doubtless fewif any fromthe lands whencethose Franciscans
came will be able to inspect the tombstoneitselfin the near
future.But thereis no reason to believe that it will not be preservedunderthe presentgovernment.Alongwithotherhistorical
18 See note 8.
The subsequent volumes contain the Franciscan records in China
beginningwith the seventeenthcentury. The progressof this best critcal edition is
nqw under the directionof Dr. GeorgesMENSAERT, OFM.
gi
k
PLATE I
YANGCHOW LATIN TO-MBSTONE01F 1342
Miiiiature Facsimile of Originial Rubbingin
11
B008p
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i
.
ye
9
.I &
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-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~XW
PLATE II
YAN(;CIION%,
LATIN TOMBSTO2NEL
OF IM4
of Plate I
Negative Rleproductioti
.
or
~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~~7
'I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I
'
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~~~
~-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
;rir~~~~~
4
'I
~~~~~~~~~~**
~~~~~~~;~~~~j
~ --~~~~~~I
~ ~~~
4
PLATF III
YAN(( HOW ILATIN TO'\IB'TONI
0'
OF
2?~~~~~~~.N
X
~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*
0
O
*I
PLATE IX
YAN(CIIOwV
lMadoinna
LATIN
TOMlBSTO0NE
OF
1349.
and(i Child, Actual Size
(I)etail of Plate II)
4
365
objects discoveredin recentyears in the same region,the Latin
tombstonehas been placed in the ancestral hall of a certain
General SHIH, now headquartersof the North Kiangsu Cultural
Objects Custody Association,at Yangehow. It is to be hoped
that interestedChinesescholarshave access to it and willeventually publishreportswhichmay give furtherclues to some of the
unansweredquestionsconcerningit.

The Yangchow Latin Tombstone as a Landmark of Medieval

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