Alexandre de Rhodes and Vietnamese culture

Victor Phan

Alexandre de Rhodes
The consequences of the Jesuits1 and their attempts to convert those in far off lands to Christianity have had both positive and negative effects. One of the more remarkable men from the Jesuits was Alexandre de Rhodes, an enlightened and brilliant man who has had a powerful and lasting effect on the country of Vietnam.

Figure 1: A portrait of Alexandre de Rhode wearing a black robe, and also leaving his hair to fall down to his shoulders2

Alexandre de Rhodes, born at Avignon (Southern France) on the 15th March, 15933, was a Jesuit missionary who was admitted to the Society of Jesus at Rome in 1612 with the intention of devoting his life towards the converting infidels.4

1 2 3

Jesuit is a member of the Society of Jesus. Portrait of Alexandre de Rhodes preserved in Paris at the Muse de la France dOutre -mer.

It has been proven by two sources that his birthdate is in 1593, the first, his letter to the superior general Mutio Vitelleschi, requesting to be sent to the Chinese or Japanese mission, states that he is at his fourth year in theology, which was written in 1617, implying he was born in 1593. Furthermore, in a register of postulants entering the novitiate of San Andrea in Rome, states Alessandro Rhodes, francese danni 19 incirca, translated from Italian meaning Alexandre Rhodes, French and about 19 years of age, the register was recorded in 1612, supp orting the fact that Alexandre was born in 1593, however, according to some sources, Alexandre was born in 1591, e.g. Neill, S. (1964), A History of Christian Missions, Victoria, Penguin Books, page 195, Daughton, J. P. (2006), An Empire Divided, Religion, Republicanism, and the Making of French Colonialism, 1880-1914, New York, Oxford University Press, page 30. 4 Weber, N. (1912) Alexandre De Rhodes, The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 11, 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13024a.htm

The vast amount of dedication he had put towards the new venture of evangelizing and establishing missions in Indochina (namely Vietnam5) and other works in the majority of his lifetime has allowed him to achieve an acknowledgement of his missionary work from the Vatican bureaucracy for his effort in converting some 6,700 Vietnamese to the Roman Catholic faith as well as the respect from the Modern Vietnamese people for creating a national language (script) accessible for any class in the hierarchy of the Vietnamese society. Consequently, this caused many controversies in the country of Vietnam, and de Rhodes was banished from the land later on in his life despite his contribution and love to the country, we will discuss this in a later section of this document.

The Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus6 is a religious order dedicated to Christianity, and had been founded as the Company of Jesus by Saint Ignatius of Loyola and other students at the University of Paris in 15347, only until 1540, was the order officially approved its formation by Pope Paul III.8 The purpose of the organisation was to train students, such as de Rhodes, through the pathway of theology in order to dedicate themselves solely into apostolic works such as evangelization and converting as many people to Christianity as possible. By the end of the 16th century, the Jesuits were prominent for promoting missionary works into foreign countries such as India, China, Japan and South America. Along with the missionaries intentions to evangelize the places which were almost half the Earth away, they were well aware they were putting their lives under risk because of the treacherous landscapes required to travel through in order to reach their destinations, which was an arduous task to undertake before commencing their missionary works.

6 7

Formerly known as Annam by the West in de Rhodess time, the country was classified as two parts, Tonkin (North) and Cochinch ina (South) Jesuit can be abbreviated as S.J, SJ or SI

Hien, V. Ho (2008) Alexandre de Rhodes and the Vietnamese language, Retrieved August 11, 2012 from Advite: http://advite.com/AlexandredeRhode.htm 8 Pollen, J.H. (1912) The Society of Jesus, The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 26, 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14081a.htm

The voyage of Alexandre de Rhodes

Ironically, de Rhodes, the founder of Vietnamese Christianity had initially requested to be sent to the missions in Japan and China instead of Vietnam at the time. On May 15, 1617, de Rhodes wrote a letter to Mutio Vitelleschi (1563-1645), the 6th Superior General of the Society of Jesus, requesting to be sent to the missions in Japan and China. During the fourth year of studying theology, he wrote again to Vitelleschi, applying to be sent to the missions. Shortly after de Rhodes latter letter, on the 15th of April 1618 (Easter Sunday), Vitelleschi granted de Rhodes a permit to fulfill his requests. Filled with exuberance, de Rhodes prepared for his journey by studying mathematics and astronomy for 6 months prior to his departure in October 1618. Shortly before his departure, he encountered Pope Paul V to receive his blessings. He departed from Rome for Lisbon, where he boarded the ship Saint Theresa to arrive to Goa (India). The journey on Saint Theresa took six months and ten days to arrive in Goa. De Rhodes dream to become a missionary in Japan had been delayed since the persecution in Japan had not been alleviated. The unexpected and disappointing delay lasted for three and a half years for de Rhodes. During de Rhodess long stay in Goa, he noticed two things in Goa which concerned him deeply, first the missionaries in India seemed to be very kind and generous to pagans and catechumens, but after their baptism (i.e. the final stage of conversion) they missionaries would abandon them and continue on with their works, uninterested in the once before pagan or catechumen. This showed a lack of genuine passion for the teachings of Christ and was appeared to be a little more than manipulation in the eyes of de Rhodess . Secondly, Indians who were prospect Christians were forced to abandon their ancient customs and traditional methods, for instance, they were ordered to wear Portuguese clothing to segregate them from the pagans. This act of segregation caused de Rhodes to ask himself: I dont know why they are asked to do things that would deter them from receiving baptism and being saved For my part, I well know that in China I vigorously opposed those who wanted to compel new Christians to cut their long hair, which the men all wear as long as the womens, and without which they would not be able to move around the country freely nor be part of the society. I used to tell them that the Gospel obliged them to lop off their spiritual errors but not their long hair.9 When news arrived that it was safe after an elevation of the situation in Japan, de Rhodes resumed his journey towards Macao.10 However, the ship stopped at Cochin (now Kochi in India), where the captain of the ship had died and de Rhodes boarded another ship to Malacca. Owing to the unpleasant weather in Malacca, de Rhodes was bound to stay in

Rhodes, A. (1616) Divers voyage, Paris, Imprimeur du Roy, rue S. Iaques, aux Cicognes, p. 21, It is observed that from the portrait of de Rhodes (page 2 of this article) that he himself had long hair, which implies that he would have been hypocritical had he agreed with the other Jesuits. 10 Now known as Macau, lying on the border of China, this was a Portuguese settlement which acted as a centre for missionaries travelling to Asia.

Malacca for nine months. During this time though, he had recorded that he and a Portuguese Jesuit, Gaspar Ferreira, succeeded in baptizing two thousand people. On May 29, 1623, when the ship had finally arrived in Macao, de Rhodes was awed by the Chinese culture and customs. De Rhodes had reported that a college there named Madre de Deus, which was operated by Jesuits, included subjects taught at the college was in any great European university. In 1623, Japans third shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, Iemitsu Tokugawa, was even more hostile towards Christianity, and enforced cruel laws and the worst years of persecution had begun.11 The aim was the complete eradication of Christianity with no room for mercy. Christians, regardless of foreign or native, were horridly burnt and subjected to tortures more horrific than burning. De Rhodes superiors decided to change de Rhodess trajectory to Japan towards the new destination, Cochinchina, since the relation between the Jesuits and the Japanese were hostile. In December 1624, de Rhodes and six other missionaries12 travelled towards Ca Hn (now known as Nng) in central Vietnam for only nineteen days of the journey. Vietnam was smaller than it is today in de Rhodess time, especially South Vietnam. In that time, the river Gianh in the province of Qung Bnh had separated the country into two parts, North and South. However, Europeans had named them respectively, Tonkin and Cochinchina.13

De Rhodess stay in Vietnam

De Rhodes had begun with his missionary work in Vietnam on 1624 or early 1625, he spent his time in Cochinchina, learning the Vietnamese language and engrossed himself in the cultures religion, customs and government of the country. After 18 months, he moved to Tonkin in 1627, where he and Jesuit Pre Marques was appointed to staff a new mission there, after two years, he was exiled from the land, however, he managed to remain in the kingdom of Tonkin for another year, until Spring of 1930, when he fled back to Macao since his superior were worried about the stance between Vietnam and the Jesuits. There, de Rhodes spent a dull ten years teaching theology in Madre de Deus. In 1640, a new superior was appointed in Macao, who permitted de Rhodess return to Cochinchina in 1940, this excited de Rhodes once more, as he were to spend a period of five highly successful but dangerous years in Cochinchina, since he was frequently banished by the authorities, meaning he either had to temporarily return to Macao, or which he much preferred, illegally move around Cochinchina. In 1645 however, after he himself had been condemned to death, then released and exiled by the viceroy, de Rhodes had his final leave of Vietnam and returned to Macao once and for all. From there he returned to Europe, arrive in 1649.
11 12 13

Moran, J.F. (1993) The Japanese and the Jesuits, Alessandro Valignano in sixteenth-century Japan, London and New York, Routledge, p. 145 Of the Jesuits, there was oddly enough, a Japanese missionary, who was a master of Chinese calligraphy. Claude, L., Pham, D. K., Cathechismus, p. 10, Saigon, Groupe Lettraire Timh-Viet

The Vietnamese language and its script

The first scripting system has been said in history of Vietnam was Khoa u, literally tadpole, the reason being of this name is because the geometry of the script was composed of circles and lines which closely resembled the shape of a tadpole. Little is known about this script and many properties of the language such as the correspondence to phonetic speech are still debateable, thus it is still an undefined part of history. The script itself has only been suggested to be the first script, but not enough evidence has been found to officially claim that is had been a script or if ever, the first script of Vietnam.14 When the Chinese people had begun war with the Vietnamese people since 111 B.C.15, the transcript of the Vietnamese language had also been forcibly changed into the Chinese transcript, although the phonetic language still remains the same as before. But even after Vietnam had successfully fought China off their land, the official script of Vietnam remains to be the Chinese transcripts, known as Hn or Ch Nho.16 Ch Nm17, is the preceding script, but was unfortunately esoteric. It is believed to have been created by Hn Thuyn, a scholar under the reign of the Trn Dynasty. According to the Vietnamese history, he was commissioned by Emperor Trn Nhn Tn to write a message to a crocodile which had entered the Red River, apparently his writing drove the animal away, which granted him the privilege from the Emperor to change his family name from Nguyn to Hn, as the same incident occurred before in China to the poet-scholar Hn Yu.18 Ch Nm only found its main purpose for writing poetry during its primitive stages of development. Over a couple of centuries though, the scripting system had been improved and refined by people from the L dynasty19 to the Nguyn dynasty20 before becoming a form of narrative poems. However, in 1858, when France had decided to conquer Vietnam, Ch Nm began to decline from Vietnamese literature21.

14 15 16

The date of Khoa u has not been defined yet. This was initially the conquest of the Han Dynasty

Phan, P. C. (1998) Mission and Catechesis, Alexandre de Rhodes & Inculturation in Seventeenth-Century Vietnam, New York, Orbis Books, p. 29. The script Han had lasted until the 19th century. 17 The date of the invention of the scrip is still a major controversy, for example the H. Maspero had stated that a stele discovered in H Thnh sn, in the province of Ninh Bnh, North Vietnam, which bore an inscription identified as Ch Nm, the date on the inscription translated into the Christian calendar suggests that the stele was created in the year 1343 and may have been inscribed years from then on. A scholar named Nguyn vn T disagreed with this hypothesis and traced back to a Vietnamese hero, Phng Hng, who overthrew the current Chinese governor in 791 A.D., was given the title of B Ci i Vng (Father and mother of the people), the words in this title had only been given meaning once Ch Nm was adapted as a system. This therefore implies that Ch Nm could have existed before the 8th century. A third hypothesis, pointed out by another Vietnamese scholar named S Cung, had put forward a complex argument, deconstructing Vietnamese literature and deducing the derivatives of the pseudonyms of the line of Vietnamese emperors. S Cung made a solid attempt to prove that Ch Nm dated back somewhere from 187-226 A.D.
18

Hn Yu is an influential poet and writer of the Tang dynasty in China, who before Hn Thuyn, wrote a letter to a crocodile to banish it from the Wu River. 19 The L dynasty in Vietnam from years 1428-1788
20 21

The Nguyn dynasty in Vietnam from years 1802-1945

Tinh, V. T., Chu Nom, Ancienne Ecriture du Vietnam Formation Historique Un mouvement dmancipation de lemprise culturelle chinoise, Retrieved 26th August 2012 from http://thehuuvandan.org/chunom.html

De Rhodes contribution towards the Vietnamese script

De Rhode's contribution towards the Vietnamese literary script had proved to help many millions who were illiterate become better educated, as the script was not hard to learn. Although de Rhodes was not the first inventor of the script, he was the most recognised contributor to the modern, Latin script of Vietnam, Quc Ng.22

Figure 2: A table which compares between the characters of Ch Nho (left on the table) and its composition of composite characters, the pronunciation now known as Quc Ng, and on the right of the table, the meaning of the words in French.23

Although it is quite lucid to see that these are very important helpful changes in the trajectory of the Vietnamese history, there are major setbacks regarding to de Rhode's intentions in the country. One of de Rhode's first teachers was an 11-12 year old Vietnamese boy, who later took on the name of Raphael Rhodes. Raphael Rhodes was one of de Rhode's first converts in Vietnam, and formally became de Rhode's loyal assistant in the following works of de Rhodes on evangelization in Vietnam as well as neighbouring countries such as Laos. The development of a new script not only allowed the illiterate to become better educated because of the simplicity of the phonetic system of Quc Ng, but also granted de Rhodes the ability to communicate towards numerous people in the Vietnamese society. Ultimately this would mean that de Rhodes could publish works regarding to Christianity in his Vietnamese

22

Quc Ng was a Romanised script, which included Latin characters such as those of the English alphabet, but also with diacritical or phonetic markings to indicate the tone of the character, since the Vietnamese language consists of 6 different tone sounds. 23 Trng, V. K. (1867) Abrg de grammaire annamite, Saigon, Imprimerie Imperiale, p. 8

script to evangelize a larger portion of Vietnam, for example, Cathechismus24, is a book regarding to the teachings of Christianity, written in Quc Ng. The fact that the more followers de Rhodes gained, the more he would potentially gain, raised many issues for a vast number of minority groups existing within Vietnam. Namely groups such as non-Christian religions as a whole (Buddhism, Yao/Dao, Confucianism, etc.) who lost their followers, housewives who converted and were then harshly dismissed by men, even eunuchs who would lose their jobs if their lord converted.

Contrasting de Rhodes
Prior to Alexandre de Rhodes's arrival to Vietnam, we have mentioned that he spent six months learning Astronomy and Mathematics. De Rhodes's tactic of evangelization was not to be by manipulating the Vietnamese people until baptism, which he learnt from his observations in Goa, but by presenting towards the people his true beliefs, not only was it before their full conversion that he was sincere towards them, making de Rhodes an enlightened man. Along with his sincere treatment to the Vietnamese people, he had convinced the truth of Christianity towards the Vietnamese not by assumption that they will believe in what he said, but by putting forward a scientific method to help him persuade the people into Christianity. A method which de Rhodes had used to convince Lord Trnh Trngs interest was introducing European science into the society. There had been an occasion where he foresaw a lunar eclipse and compiled a chart for the King25, responding to this prediction, the King stated, "If these people know how to predict with so much assurance and accuracy the secrets of heaven and the stars -- which are unknown to us and surpass our capacities, shouldn't we believe that they are correct about the knowledge of the Law of the Lord of Heaven and of the Earth, and of the truths that they preach to us...?". One must now contrast de Rhodes's method in successfully evangelizing many thousands in comparison to the other Jesuits, the missionaries in Japan as heard did not go well as heard before, simply because of the fact that the Japanese saw the Jesuits as invaders, now less than 1% of the Japanese population are Christians26, compared to the higher 8% of the Vietnamese population. This can be illustrated as a consequence of the treatment the Jesuits gave in Japan compared to de Rhodes's methods. Missionaries in North America caused great havoc towards the culture, simply because the Jesuits did not accept the North American culture, they had converted the Huron, also cutting off many of the tradition's customs. Eventually civilization had itself completely destroyed along with the Jesuits, who became known as martyrs. Martyr is a term which applied to the Jesuits in almost any culture, the intention of converting as many people possible would be certain to arouse conflicts within culture and religion.
24
25 26

Rhodes, A. (1651) Cathechismus, Rome, Typis Sacre Congregationis de Propaganda Fide. Maggs, B. W. (2000) The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 86, No. 3, Catholic University of America Press, p. 446 Mariko, K. (2009, February 24) Christianitys long history in the margins, Retrieved from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20090224i1.html

De Rhodes had accepted a foreign culture and approached the evangelisation differently from the other Jesuits, de Rhodes interpreted religion as acceptance and knowledge, we can see his outstanding performance in not only evangelization, but also the remarkable change he has caused in Vietnamese cultural history, and thus this marks and distinguishes himself from many of the other Jesuits.

Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources:

Books: Claude, L., Pham, D. K., Cathechismus, p. 10, Saigon, Groupe Lettraire Timh-Viet

This book is the same as Cathechismus, but a reedited version with a section of de Rhodess voyage Rhodes, A. (1616) Divers voyage, Paris, Imprimeur du Roy, rue S. Iaques, aux Cicognes

Recounts on the majority of de Rhodess travels in his entire lifetime Rhodes, A. (1651) Cathechismus, Rome, Typis Sacre Congregationis de Propaganda Fide.

This book is de Rhodess teachings of Christianity for the Vietnamese; it is strangely divided into days, instead of chapters Interview: Interview with Phan Tri, 2012, August 20.

The historical evolution of the Vietnamese script, including the contributors and inventors, quoc ngu was not created by Alexandre de Rhodes but he was the most acknowledged for his great contribution into the development of the text Interview with Dr Tung Bao Ngo, 2012, August 14.

Christian influence on the Vietnamese culture and the comparison of the Vietnamese peoples stance on Christianity in de Rhodess time until today

Secondary Sources:
Books: Daughton, J. P. (2006) An Empire Divided, Religion, Republicanism, and the Making of French Colonialism, 1880-1914, New York, Oxford University Press

Described briefly about the history of Vietnam and de Rhodess religious works in the country of Vietnam Duong, Q. N. (1958) Vietnam van-hoc su-yeu, Saigon, Vietnamese scholarly books

A scholarly book which accounts for the important events in the history of Vietnam, including the interaction with missionaries

10

Hien, V. Ho (2008) Alexandre de Rhodes and the Vietnamese language, Retrieved from Advite: http://advite.com/AlexandredeRhode.htm

A useful source describing the relationship between de Rhodes and Vietnamese language Mariko, K. (2009, February 24) Christianitys long history in the margins, Retrieved from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20090224i1.html

Contains an important statistics describing the ratio between Christians and non-Christians in the population of Japan Moran, J.F. (1993) The Japanese and the Jesuits, Alessandro Valignano in sixteenthcentury Japan, London and New York, Routledge

Contains a detailed outline on the stance between the Japanese and the Jesuits Neill, S. (1964) A History of Christian Missions, Victoria, Penguin Books

Provided deep insight into each of the Christian Missions, especially the Roman Catholic era Ngo, T. B. (1997), The Social and Psychological Well-being of Vietnamese Elderly Immigrants in Australia, Victoria, RMIT University

Contains a section outlining the impact of Alexandre de Rhodes and the Roman Catholics in the Vietnamese society Phan, P. C. (1998) Mission and Catechesis, Alexandre de Rhodes & Inculturation in Seventeenth-Century Vietnam, New York, Orbis Books, p. 29

An invaluable source describing de Rhodess religious and geographical activities in Vietnam Pollen, J.H. (1912) The Society of Jesus, The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 26, 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14081a.htm

Explains the purpose of the Jesuits organisation and gives a brief recount on the historical events in the organisation Thwaites, R. G. (1959) The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in New France 1610-1791, New York, Pageant Book Company

Outlines the interactions between Jesuits and foreign countries including the historical documents

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Tinh, V. T., Chu Nom, Ancienne Ecriture du Vietnam Formation Historique Un mouvement dmancipation de lemprise culturelle chinoise, Retrieved 26th August 2012 from http://thehuuvandan.org/chunom.html

An account of the historical formation of the former esoteric Vietnamese script, Ch Nm Trng, V. K. (1867) Abrg de grammaire annamite, Saigon, Imprimerie Imperiale

Provides a brief insight on the differences between Ch Nho, Ch Nm and Quc Ng Weber, N. (1912) Alexandre De Rhodes: The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 11, 2012 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13024a.htm

Outlines the major events which happened in de Rhodess life Images: Figure 1: Photograph of Alexandre de Rhodes Paris at the Muse de la France dOutre-mer. Figure 2: Extract from Trng, V. K. (1867) Abrg de grammaire annamite, Saigon, Imprimerie Imperiale

Journal articles: Maggs, B. W. The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 86, No. 3 (Jul. 2000), Catholic University of America Press, p. 446

Contains important information regarding to de Rhodess mathematical and scientific methods of evangelizing the Vietnamese people Lecture: Martin L., Missions from the Society of Jesus, 2012 August 27.

Lecture discussing the contrast between the success and failures of the Jesuits

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