Cross-Cultural Theological Discourse During the Late Ming and Early Qing: Zhang Xingyao’s Confucian–Christian Perspective on Catholicism and Buddhism

The eastward transmission of Catholicism and Western learning during the late Ming and early Qing, and its subsequent epistemic friction with indigenous Chinese philosophies, engendered a highly dynamic intellectual space for cross-cultural ontological discourse. As a prominent representative of Jiangnan Confucian Christians in the early Qing dynasty, Zhang Xingyao (张星曜, 1633–post 1715) articulated a perspective on the relationship between Catholicism and Buddhism (Ye-Fo) that transcended superficial anti-heterodox polemics, penetrating instead into the core reconstruction of soteriology, theodicy, and political philosophy. Relying on primary historical manuscripts—namely Zhang’s Pi lueshuo tiaobo 辟略说条驳 [Refutations and Counter-Arguments against the Brief Treatise] and Lidai tongjian jishi benmo buhoubian 历代通鉴纪事本末补后编 [Supplements to the History of the Comprehensive Mirror Topically Arranged]—this paper investigates his ontological critique of Buddhism from the perspective of comparative theology and through the analytical lens of “meaning systems”. It reveals how Zhang utilized an exclusionary anti-Buddhist framework, marked by inherent historical limitations, to reshape the ultimate concerns and moral order of the Chinese literati. This research demonstrates that Zhang not only established the absolute transcendent authority of Catholicism over the afterlife and hell through rigorous logical argumentation in the Pi lueshuo tiaobo, but also pioneered the “topical arrangement of religious history” (zongjiao jishi benmo ti) in his Buhoubian. This historiographical innovation seamlessly synthesized his apologetic mission to “refute Buddhism and Daoism” (pi Fo Dao) with his statecraft ambition to “assist state administration” (zi guo zheng), effectively achieving a historical “disenchantment” of the enduring religious mysticism embedded within traditional Chinese politics.