Niccolò Longobardo

Early Years and Entry into the Society

Niccolò Longobardo (Chinese name Long Huamin, 龙华民) was born in 1559 in Caltagirone, in the Kingdom of Sicily, Italy. Called as a young man to give his life to God, he joined the Society of Jesus around 1582, received rigorous training in theology and the humanities, and resolved to go to the East to spread the faith.

Arrival in China

In 1597, after a long journey, Longobardo reached Macau and soon entered mainland China, where he was sent to take charge of the mission at Shaozhou (now Shaoguan), Guangdong. At that time the Jesuit mission in China was not yet firmly established. He traveled among the towns and counties of the south, learning the Chinese language and local customs, preaching to and baptizing ordinary people. His approach was plain and direct, with a different emphasis from the approach centered on the scholar-officials. The following year, when Lazzaro Cattaneo (郭居静) went north, he took charge of the Shaozhou residence and preached in the countryside, winning many converts.

Succeeding as Superior

In 1610 Matteo Ricci, founder of the Jesuit mission in China, died of illness in Beijing, and on his deathbed named Longobardo to succeed him as superior of the Jesuits in China. From then on Longobardo bore responsibility for leading the mission throughout the country, and he led the Jesuits in China from 1610 to 1622. He became a key figure linking past and future, and in all he spent more than half a century in China.

The Terms Controversy

During his tenure Longobardo became involved in the far-reaching “Terms Controversy.” He made a careful study of Song–Ming Neo-Confucianism and concluded that Confucian thought was grounded in li (principle) and qi (material force), and that concepts within it such as Tian (Heaven) and Shangdi (Lord on High) did not refer to a personal God. He therefore opposed Ricci's practice of using “Tian” and “Shangdi” from the Confucian classics to name the Creator, insisting that only the term “Tianzhu” (Lord of Heaven) be used, and he opposed believers' veneration of ancestors and of Confucius, regarding these as idolatry. This position sparked a long debate within the Society; the Jiading Conference held around 1628 was convened to settle the dispute. Although his view did not become the prevailing one, it had a deep influence on the later Chinese Rites Controversy.

Mission in the North

In his later years, despite his advanced age, Longobardo went deep into the area around Jinan, Shandong, to preach, administering the rites of admission to the Church to officials and common people alike and extending the work in the north. In the early Chongzhen years, on the recommendation of Xu Guangqi (徐光启), he also took part in the revision of the calendar and related matters, using his learning to serve both the Church and the imperial court.

Death and Assessment

On December 11, 1654, Longobardo died peacefully in Beijing at more than ninety years of age. The Shunzhi Emperor of the Qing granted silver for his funeral, and he was buried in the Tenggong Zhalan (Zhalan) Catholic Cemetery in Beijing. Spanning the Ming and Qing dynasties, he spent more than fifty years in China and devoted his whole life to sustaining and strengthening the young Jesuit mission there. However much controversy his theological views aroused, his perseverance, diligence and devotion unto death left an indelible mark on the history of early Chinese Catholicism.