Candida Xu
徐甘弟大
許甘弟大
許徐甘弟大
Born(1607-09-04)September 4, 1607
DiedJuly 24, 1680(1680-07-24) (aged 72)
RelativesXu Guangqi (grandfather)

Candida Xu or Candida Su[1] (Chinese: 許徐甘弟大; pinyin: Xǔ-Xú Gāndìdà; Wade–Giles: Hsü3-Hsü2 Kan1-ti4-ta4; September 4, 1607 – July 24, 1680), was a Chinese Catholic who lived in late Ming and early Qing China. She has been called "arguably the most influential Chinese Christian woman of the seventeenth century."[2] She is also, according to records, likely the first Chinese woman who knows Latin.

Biography

Born on the feast day of Saint Candida the Elder, in whose honor she was named, Xu was the granddaughter of Xu Guangqi, who had converted to Christianity four years previously.[3]

From childhood she was deeply religious. Widowed at 46, she turned her attention to service to the church. Despite the restrictions she faced given her status as a member of the upper class, she worked to spread the word of Christianity. She exercised the influence of her father and son to gain good will for many Jesuit missionaries among local officials.

Among Chinese Christians she promoted her spiritual associations; she also acted as a leader for Christian women around Shanghai. She had a private income, from which she donated generously to finance living arrangements for missionaries; she also funded the building of close to forty churches and chapels, and facilitated publication of many religious works in the Chinese language.

She also led weaving efforts within the female community, which included her daughters. The cloth and embroideries that they wove helped them make an equivalent of several thousand French crowns, which she also donated to support missionary work.[4] She helped the Catholic Church in Sichuan search for surviving converts after the devastation wrought by Zhang Xianzhong.[5]

She was referred to as the Apostle of China by many.[6] Her story gained currency in Europe through a biography by Philippe Couplet, her confessor.[7]

References

  1. ^ So, Francis K.H.; Leung, Beatrice K.F.; Mylod, Ellen Mary, eds. (2018). "Glossary, Volume I" (PDF). The Catholic Church in Taiwan: Problems and Prospects. "Christianity in Modern China" series. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 256. ISBN 978-981-10-6667-2.
  2. ^ King, Gail (26 August 1998). "Candida Xu and the Growth of Christianity in China in the Seventeenth Century". Monumenta Serica. 46: 49–66. doi:10.1080/02549948.1998.11731309. JSTOR 40727172.
  3. ^ "Holy Spirit Study Centre - Publications - Tripod". hsstudyc.org.hk. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  4. ^ King, Gail (1998). "Candida Xu and the Growth of Christianity in China in the Seventeenth Century". Monumenta Serica. 46: 49–66.
  5. ^ Gourdon, François-Marie-Joseph, ed. (1981) [1918]. 圣教入川记 [An Account of the Entry of the Catholic Religion into Sichuan] (in Simplified Chinese). Chengdu: Sichuan People's Publishing House. pp. 63–65.
  6. ^ Gerald H. Anderson (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 752. ISBN 978-0-8028-4680-8.
  7. ^ Couplet, Philippe (1688). Histoire D'Une Dame Chrétienne De La Chine. Paris.
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